What is Sacred
by Path Unknown
Summary: I knew it would happen again. I couldn't live the rest of my life alone up here on the mountains... Not that I wanted to anyway. I used to want nothing more than to remain free... But after experiencing the loss of one friend, why did I want nothing more than to try again, even as the pains of loss keep digging at me? *First-Person*Pokemon centric*Sequel to "One Week"
1. Prologue

**BOO**

Bet no-one was expecting to hear from me again!

*ahem*

Anyway, first things first, this is a sequel to my other story _"One Week"_ So, don't read this if you haven't read that...

But this one is going to be a little bit different...

Maybe.

It starts off very same-y, because I'm about as creative as a smiley face on a plank of wood, but I _think_ it'll have a different effect on people as the story goes on.

Feel free to yell at me if I say something wrong, or something right... Hell, just post a comment saying what you prefer, Pie or Cake...

But otherwise, please enjoy.

Oh, yeah, and depending on how I'm feeling when I get around to it, the rating may be changed to "M" for planned future, uhh... _descriptions_.

* * *

.

* * *

 **Prologue**

 _Three hundred and two._

I stood on the cold stone, carving the second mark into this section of the cave wall. How I'd remembered to keep count, I will never know. Maybe it was my father who had taught me. Or maybe it was-

" _Are you insane? Perish Song will-"_

I rubbed a foreleg across my eyes, wiping away the fresh tears. It didn't matter how many days had passed. I was a murderer. Not a hunter for survival, but a murderer. Was it all a price worthy of my pride?

"… _Just hang on Nion!"_

Walking back towards the end of my cave, I sat at the cross Shay had placed for him. The only pokémon I'd learned to... The only one who I allowed into my life. Into my heart.

" _What the hell were you thinking? Do you know what you've just done?"_

No, I didn't know what I'd done at the time. I thought the pokémon centres could cure any disease, stop any infection… Heal any injury…

I growled in frustration at my own emotions. It was almost a full year ago and the memories still play on my mind like yesterday.

My stomach moaned at me for food, forcing me away from Nion's grave and out into the cold. Walking the long path down the mountain, I began my morning hunt. Winter had come around again, and the snowfall was increasing. Driving more wild pokémon and trainers through the cave network of Mount Coronet, rather than up the cliffs.

Just meant I'd have to be wary for my food, Golbat had a tendency to-

I turned around to the west, feeling the bone chilling wind whip through my fur and my blade singing through my mind. There was a storm coming, the first one of the season, and Arceus certainly wanted it to be a good one.

" _You are lucky to be alive, if it weren't for this trainer bringing you to us, you could've lost more than a few claws."_

I still remember the first moments I laid eyes upon Shay. The contempt I held for him and the rest of the humans. But Nion… No, he taught me so much about the human world... Who they were, what they did… How nice they actually were.

Jumping down a small cliff, I arrived at a wide open clearing, the tips of the long grass just visible from under the snow. The humans had carved out the tunnel to my right, acting as the second safe haven from the dangerous weather, and behind me on the left was a series of cliff-faces the humans themselves could climb. Or ride a pokémon if they were truly lazy.

I stopped in my tracks between two major patches of grass, noticing two dark dots against the snow amongst numerous Clefairy tracks. I sniffed once before a third tear stained the snow below me.

" _I love you, Luyo."_

"Why wasn't it me!?" I shouted into the sky, channeling a Shadow Ball in-front of my blade. Before hurling it into the sky, immediately throwing a Psycho Cut after the dark energy causing it to detonate a safe distance from the mountainside.

Panting, I collapsed into the snow, feeling more tears run from my eyes. "Why wasn't it me…?" I said again, before burying my face into the snow.

* * *

I don't know how many hours I'd spent laying face-down in the snow, but when I awoke the storm was fast approaching. The sun was all by blocked out by the dense clouds, the clearing before me deserted and lifeless. And then there I lay, amongst those who still trusted me. A quick gust of wind quickly reminded me of the situation.

I forced myself upright, there was probably a half hour before the storm really took hold, and even now my vision was obscured at best.

I sprinted across the clearing to the human's carved path, finding it devoid of life, before doing a quick lap of the area searching for anyone still hiding.

 _Twenty five._

Deeming the area clear, I bounded up to the next mountainside path. This one was much easier to keep an eye on, as the track to my hom-

I growled at the thought.

The track to my _cave_ directly overlooked this area. There wasn't much to it, a few small patches of grass, two human-friendly cliff faces and one designed purely for pokémon.

 _Eighteen._

I quickly climbed back up onto my path, finding no signs of life stuck out in the-

 _Purple_.

A mess of purple fur lay along my path. Slightly smaller than me, and so frail. This pokémon certainly didn't belong up here.

"Hey! What are you doing here?" I shouted at the pokémon, causing it to jump slightly at my appearance. "There's a storm coming, can't you tell?"

The pokémon turned to face me, throwing itself into the snow before my forelegs. "A-an Absol! Don't hurt me! I was separated from my trainer when the storm blew in, and I can't find anywhere to wait out the storm!" The pokémon's wide ears billowed around in the wind, slapping across the red gem centered in the Espeon's forehead. And as usual with psychic types, it was almost impossible to tell it was male from anything but his voice.

"There's a cave down there," I nodded my head towards the path below us. "Jump down here, it's only two storeys, you can brace against the wall. There's a path the humans cleared just ahead which leads to the cave. You can't miss it." I walked passed the pokémon, heading back towards my cave.

"Wait! If the cave is that way, why are you going the opposite direction?"

I sighed and turned around. "Because that's the path all humans take through the mountain, I'm going to _my_ cave so they don't bother me." I widened my stance slightly, also loosing a low growl, probably inaudible over the rapidly building wind.

"But I can't jump down two storeys." I saw the Espeon glance back towards the edge of the path. "At least not without breaking a leg or something."

"You'll be _fine_ ," I said through my teeth. This psychic type embodying everything I hated about them. "The snow is thick enough down there that it'd save a Graveler."

"But what if-"

"I said _go!_ " I shouted back, before channeling a Shadow Ball for the second time today. I saw a distinct look of fear in the Espeon's eyes before I saw a different target. Just to my left was a tall stone pillar, long enough to probably make a ramp for him to even _crawl_ down. Throwing my attack into the stone, a massive cloud of dust joined the whistling snow, causing rock chips to bash slightly against my face. Before I was able to open my eyes, I saw a grave error come tumbling down atop me.

"Run!" I'd heard off to my side, but it was too late. The pillar I'd struck had been snowed on all day, and it was this thick wall of white that wanted nothing more than to flatten me against the hard stone.

I saw the Espeon become cloaked in a bright purple dome, before my entire vision went bla-


	2. Easy Choices

**Chapter 1:** **Easy Choices**

I opened my eyes slightly, sighing at the all too familiar sight. A solid white wall lay before my eyes as I growled in frustration. An almost unbearable warmth covered my entire form, all four legs, across my neck and most of my body felt like I'd been laying on a hot stone all day.

Pulling in my forele-

I jerked upwards, only to find my entire form held firm against the soft bed. Not only were my legs bound but my head too was locked in place. A sudden wave of pain shot through my chest, making it nearly impossible to breathe.

I cried out in pain, not believing such a pain was possible from just _breathing_.

I released the tension in my limbs as I gave up fighting my bonds. Without any chance of movement I couldn't build enough momentum to break free. And while my vision was locked forward I couldn't risk using an attack to cut through those around my limbs.

Finding no movement possible, I figured I'd focus on the bed I was laying on. It was a soft blue with light yellow and green flowers scattered randomly on the surface. I didn't know how long I'd been here. I don't know how long ago my mistake was. Only that I felt like an idiot for causing myself such pain. I did all I could to slow my breathing, to make it more bearable.

It was anything but pleasant.

I heard a door open behind me and a light sing-song voice spoke. "Oh! You're awake. Absol, are you feeling alright?"

I groaned slightly, not believing that this human was trying to talk to me. "No" I said simply, finding my voice harder to use than just breathing normally.

"Alright, give me a moment, and I'll get something to help you." I heard her footsteps soften as she left the room, not closing the door behind her.

"Great, I'll just lay here." I said softly, groaning from the effort.

"That's probably for the best." I heard a different voice behind me, but familiar. That Espeon!

"You! You're the reaso-" I cried out in pain after trying to angle my head around and get a better look at him.

"Take it easy Absol, you wouldn't believe how much snow fell on you."

"I have a name." I growled through my teeth under my breath. But before I could say more the human returned.

"Alright, Absol, you'll feel a small jab but this will be good for you. Please stay calm, I want to help you."

"Of course you do. Just like everyone else." I complained, gritting my teeth as the 'small jab' she described was indistinguishable from the pain in my chest.

"There, you should feel better soon." She continued, as I noticed a shadow move around me until I could see her. "Hello, I'm Saria. Do you have a name?" She looked short, by human standards, not by enough to look out of place. Her light brown hair pushed over to one side as she cleared her face of it.

I relaxed as I felt the pain in my chest ease, at least allowing me to at least breathe without pain. "Luyo." I said softly, watching her face change to a smile. "Where am I?"

"We're in Celestic Town. I would've taken you to the pokémon centre, but there was no room for you there."

I scowled at the human. "There was no room?"

"Yep! After that blizzard came through many trainers and their pokémon packed out the centre, leaving no room for us. Thankfully the inn accepts pokémon indoors." She paused for a moment, glancing above me. "As long as they're small enough."

"Why did you bring me here?"

"Well, after Syne there found me, he said that there was a pokémon that needed help, so I went out to get you. Thankfully you weren't buried under that snow for too long, otherwise it could've been much worse." The human reached forward towards me, but a low growl stopped her advance immediately. "It's alright Absol, I just wanted to move the blankets. Isn't it too hot for-" She paused, frowning slightly as she looked down to the end of the bed. "She's not going to attack us Syne, stop worrying. I'm sure Luyo is thankful that we saved her anyway."

As she reached forward again, I didn't move, readying myself in case she did try to harm me. I felt the weight slowly pull away, allowing me to at least pick my head up off the bed.

Glancing around I noticed another bed on the other side of the room with a closed window above it, a dark grey covering the sky. The Espeon, _Syne_ I presumed, sat at attention, his tail flicking back and forth slowly across the sheets. I felt the weight across my chest lessen, a rush of cool air greeting my fur after the blankets were removed, the one across my legs quickly following. The chill was unnerving to begin with, but I quickly got used to the feeling again.

"Thanks." I muttered softly, growling in pain after trying to pick myself up. I heard Saria open a door behind me but quickly returned to view without the blankets in her arms.

"Who gave you your name Luyo?"

"My old trainer." I watched the Espeon's gem light up as I spoke, much like how the Lucario could translate back at the Pokémon centre.

Saria sat down beside the Espeon, as he quickly curled up on her lap. "Did you two get separated in the storm?"

"No."

"Do you know where your trainer is?"

"No."

I heard Saria sigh heavily as she opted to scratch her pokémon's ears. "Can you tell me anything about them?"

"No."

"I bet you know the answer to all these things, you just don't want to go back, do you?" I paused, looking up at the human with the knowing expression. "Aha! I _knew_ it! When was the last time you saw your trainer?"

 _Don't try and follow me. Because I don't want to see you again._

"Espeon," I said, causing him to lift his head and look at me. "Is it still the same day I found you up there?"

"No, you were out of it for the night." He said softly, his voice oddly serene now that he didn't have to shout over the storm.

I glanced back up at Saria; "It's been three hundred and three days since he left me. But when he did, my ball was split in half."

"And you've been alone up there ever since?" I closed my eyes and nodded slowly, opting to lay my head back down on the bed.

There was a long pause as I heard Saria stand and I felt the bed move as my claws lost contact with the bed. "Do you want to go back to the mountain? I know there aren't many Absol left up there, so it must get pretty lonely."

Slowly, I tested my strength again, at least setting myself into an upright position, finding the lack of pain quite unnerving, considering how hard it was to breathe earlier. The medicine humans come up with never ceases to amaze me.

I watched Saria dig through a bag on the floor and produced a pokéball. It had a black top with three yellow lines almost making a square and a white underside. "Or, you can come with us!"

I looked down at the presented ball, then over at Syne who held such a straight face I couldn't read anything from him.

"We don't live alone, if you think you'll get lonely. There are plenty of other pokémon at my place."

"Wait, you said that I could go… Back?" I questioned, taking a long look into Saria's eyes.

"Of course, even if you were a trainer's pokémon, you were released back to the wild. So, your home is up on the mountain, and if you don't want to come with us then I'll get Mark and Zephyr to take you back to the peak."

"So you don't care that I'm an Absol?"

"Why would that change-" Saria paused for a moment, before a knowing expression washed across her features. "Oohh, you don't believe me because of how few of you there are. _Now_ I understand. Look, Luyo, as sad as it is that you're one of so few left, I won't force you into something you don't want to do. I've heard about what happens at those ' _conservation'_ centres and it's not something I will make any pokémon to do." Saria picked up the pokéball and placed it back in her bag. "I believe a pokémon should be free to choose their own life. If Syne told me he wanted to leave tomorrow, I would be sad, yes. Terribly so… But I won't hold him against his will." Immediately I noticed the Espeon's gem glowing in response, as Saria gained a warm smile, almost staring at the psychic type. "So if you want to go back up the mountain, I can have you back at the peak by the end of tomorrow. Or, you can come with us to Veilstone City."

I hummed to myself, tossing up the possibility of becoming Saria's pokémon. "What kind of human are you?" I asked, getting a confused look in response.

"What do you mean?"

"Are you a trainer? Climbing Mount Coronet to reach the gym in the north? A Pokémon Ranger? Or do you only keep them for company?"

Saira brightened upon my clarification. "Oh no, none of those things. I'm a Pokémon Coordinator! I go to various cities throughout the region and compete in Pokémon Contests."

"Contests? What are they? Just a different type of battle?"

"Nope, contests are when-" Sarai paused, looking down at Syne who in turn was staring back up at her. "You know what, why don't we show you what we do." Saria stood up, Syne bounding to the floor with enthusiasm.

I tried to stand up to follow them, only to have my legs almost give out holding myself upright. I took a deep breath, and growled in pain from the admittedly short fall.

"Oh no! Are you alright Luyo?" Saria asked, immediately jumping to the side of the bed, I noticed Syne's two-pronged tail flicking back and forth over the edge.

I groaned in pain, rolling over to get the weight of my body off my chest, heaving in air as quickly as I could. "I think I need a little more time to recover." I said in-between pained growls.

"Oh, I guess we'll have to show you another time, I should've known better than to get all excited like that." Saria reached into her bag, pulling out a strange orange berry, placing it on the bed beside me. "Eat this, it should help you feel better." I sniffed at the berry, before deciding to bite into it ravenously. Hunger suddenly gnawed at my stomach as I tore at the juicy flesh. "Alright, I'll give Mark a call, hopefully he can give us a ride tomorrow and you would have decided if you're coming with us." Saria turned around and left the room, as Syne climbed back onto the other bed.

I crawled into a more comfortable position, ending up sprawled out on my side, my back facing the corner.

"Are you really going to go back to the mountain?" Syne asked, seated directly facing me. "It certainly didn't look like a place worth living in."

"What was wrong with it? Was it too cold for you? Was it too hard to climb the rocks?" I mocked, remembering what lead to this situation to begin with.

"Well, yes. But why would you ever want to live back out in the wild?"

I simply stared at the Espeon, waiting for a his point.

Syne sighed softly, "There is so much _more_ when you have a trainer. No worry about food, no rival predators, no disease, illness or injuries that you have to just 'put up with'. Constant compan-"

" _You_ make it sound like I had a _choice_ to go back." I spat venomously. "Up on the mountain I have a duty, to save those who don't protect themselves. I can feel the blizzard outside, right now. I know it will last until early tomorrow. And I'll tell you _now_ that pokémon and trainers will try and climb the mountain through it. As a sense of _pride_ , a feat of _strength_. And it's up to _me_ to save them." Syne looked visibly disturbed by my revelation. "But that's fine, I'm sure there's another Absol somewhere up on that mountain just lining up to take my home, food and- oh wait… There aren't any. The last Absol I saw alive was my father. And that was before who you know as team _Galactic_ overtook the mountain.

"I was already captured once, and in that time I learned what it's like to have a trainer. What it's like to never go to sleep cold, to never be-" I felt a tear form but wedged my eyes shut to catch it, taking a deep breath in the process.

"Are you alright?"

I took another deep breath, growling from the pain of stretching my lungs. "F- fine! I'm… fine." I said slowly, steadying my breathing once more, opening my eyes to feel the tear gone.

"So, are you going back?"

I closed my eyes and lay my head down on the bed. Unwilling to respond to Syne's question. But in the back of my head, the question gnawed. Did I want to go back?

Well, of course not. Just because I gave myself a duty didn't mean I enjoyed it. Saving the lives of trainers and pokémon was one thing. But when they started a fight the moment they spotted me it was certainly less enticing. Did I even want to continue my life of seclusion? I had forgotten what it was like to be able to talk to another pokémon. Sure, he was a psychic type, with all the problems that came with, but actually being able to speak to Saria would make things so much easier.

I heard the door open as Saria stepped through, taking a seat on the opposite bed. "Everything's set for tomorrow, Mark said he should be able to get here before lunch so we should be good to go from there." She started scratching the Espeon's ears as she gained an almost ecstatic grin, as if she genuinely enjoyed grooming Syne.

"Saria?" I said, noticing Syne's gem glow for a moment. "Do you have a pokéball in white?"

"Why would you want a pokéball in white?" Saria asked, as Syne was continuing to press himself into her side. "I didn't even know there were white pokéballs." She paused her ministrations on Syne's ears as she immediately perked up at the realisation. "Does that mean you're coming with us?"

I took in a deep breath and sighed, feeling drained due to my body's obvious poor condition. "My old pokéball was white, with red lines around the opening. I liked the colours because they matched my eyes."

I heard Saria hum softly, taking her hand off Syne's head to scratch her own. "It certainly sounds like it'd suit you," Saria stood up and moved to her bag again, reaching in to pull out a different ball, presenting a pokéball with a faded red top and white underside. "But unless you mean this one, I don't know which pokéball you mean."

Shaking my head slowly, I then lowered my head to the bed, closing my eyes in preparation to sleep. "That's fine. I'm su-"

"But Mark will surely know which pokéball you mean. He's been all over Sinnoh, surely he's seen one before."

"That would be nice." I said softly, closing my eyes and resting back against the bed. Tomorrow I would become a traine- _coordinator's_ pokémon once more. And I was strangely excited to try again.

She said something else towards me, but I couldn't find the strength or the will to hear it or reply.

* * *

 **A/N**

hopefully Luyo's reasoning for not wanting to go back makes sense...

I mean, live alone, then make a friend... Only to lose said companionship... She gets lonely, is all...

But yeah, see you next time!


	3. Second Chance

**Second Chance**

I awoke the next morning to an empty room, a pair of Sitrus berries sat on the end of my bed, and the intense pain that came from simply lifting my head was gone entirely.

Humans really did know what they were doing when it came to healing injured pokémon.

I forced myself upright on stiff legs, feeling each joint crack as they remembered how to move and slowly took more of my weight. A sharp jolt ripped through my spine as I straightened my left hind leg, forcing my body back to the plush surface below me.

I made a mental note to be careful on that leg today.

Forcing myself back to a standing position, I moved to the berries and sliced the stem off them both in a single swipe of my claw, promptly laying down before them and devouring the wholly unsatisfying meal.

Although they looked freshly picked, their flavour had diminished significantly, and the flesh didn't tear apart as much as it just fell away. But food was still food, slightly aged or not.

The door clicked open, and I jumped back, widening my stance until I saw Syne's lavender ears over the side of the bed, Saria close behind him. "Oh, good morni-" She noticed my stance and giggled to herself. "It's nice to know that you'll protect us from intruders, at least." Saria was carrying two separate bags, I could smell fresh berries in one, but the other just had several brightly coloured boxes in it. I dropped my defensive stance and sat down where I was. Breakfast certainly didn't satisfy my hunger, since I hadn't eaten much of anything yesterday, but it was enough. "Syne certainly isn't a fighter. He likes to try, but we both know what he's _really_ good at."

Syne jumped up onto the other bed, his gem glowing brightly. Saria laughed lightly once more, before turning back to face me. "Turns out, I did know what pokéball you were talking about yesterday, I just didn't know the name of it." She dipped her hand into one of the bags, pulling out a colourful piece of paper, holding it out towards me. "Turns out they are 'Premier Balls' and you get one for every ten pokéballs you buy."

"So you have a bag full of pokéballs there?" I asked, hoping for an affirmative answer.

Saria turned her back to me, pulling out one of the small boxes with the picture of one of those spray bottles. "What? No. This is replacing all the medicine I had to use on you after the blizzard. It was almost all the money I had left." She paused for a moment. "Not that any of this is your fault, it's just that coordinators don't earn anywhere near as much money as trainers. That's the other reason I had to call Mark yesterday, I can't afford a bus ride home and certainly don't want to walk back."

"You didn't have to save me." I growled to myself, turning away and laying back down on the bed.

"What?" I heard Syne say aloud.

"What did she say Syne?" Saria continued. I closed my eyes and sighed, wondering if Syne was goin- "Syne, what did Luyo say?"

"I won't repeat that to Saria until I have an answer myself. What did you say?"

"You didn't have to save me." I sighed again, simply tuning out Saria's disgruntled mumblings at the time.

"I'm sorry, I can't hear you when you're talking into the-"

I forced myself up and glared at Syne. "You didn't have to save me!" I shouted back at him, causing the Espeon to recoil back, forcing him into a seated position.

"Y- you _wanted_ to die?" He asked with disbelief, his eyes darting between mine and Saria. "But… Why?"

"I never said I wanted to die." I calmed myself and sat down, lowering my voice. "I didn't have any objections to going either. If you never found me under the snow then I would've died content, knowing that it was my time. That I wouldn't take another pokémon's life."

"Are things really that bad for you?"

"Not anymore, I am soon to have a new master, and others to meet and talk to."

"But, wait… You said that, you'd… _Killed_ other pokémon?"

I tilted my head slightly, watching Syne closely. "You've never lived in the wild, have you?" He shook his head slowly in response.

"I was hatched on a breeding ranch, never met my mother or father. My mother's trainer left my egg to the farm, apparently said she didn't have room for another pokémon at home. So I stayed. Saria came along with her parents about six months after I hatched, adopted me and I lived with her family for just over a year until Sar-"

"I didn't ask for your life story…" I said quietly, loud enough for Syne to hear me apparently.

"Well you're going to hear it eventually, and I want to tell you now."

"Fine, continue."

"Thank you. Now where was I…" Syne's gem lit up for a moment, as Saria-

I glanced to the door which was slightly ajar, Saria had apparently left the room… I'll just assume she went outside. "Anyway, ah, that's right. I lived with her family until Saria finished trainer school. We went on adventures as she tried to be a trainer like her older brother. But, that never worked out well. I lost count of the number of battles I fainted in, apparently I almost died twice, but pokémon centres are amazing things.

"One battle, something just _clicked_. I'd been struck down the third time by a Machop, no idea why Saria agreed to the battle in the first place since the guy obviously had nothing but fighting types. But after hearing Saria cheer me on, knowing that no matter how hard each battle got, she always loved me afterwards. So during that battle, I evolved, we won some money which was just enough for Saria to purchase an entry into the Sandgem Town contest, and we'v-"

"Contest?" I questioned.

Syne frowned at being interrupted again, but then lit up, as if remembering that I'd never met a coordinator before. "Oh, right. Yes, contests! It's what Pokémon Coordinators take part in. Each Coordinator has to make a two to five minute routine with up to two pokémon at a time. The idea is to wow the judges with dazzling displays of attacks and moves in your own personal style. Once the routine is over, you're judged in a score out of ten from each judge, and at the end of it all, the highest score, wins!"

"So it's not about beating your opponent?"

"Definitely not." Syne closed his eyes as his gem glowed, I noticed a small illusory sun start to appear above his head, as glimmers of light started to fall down around him. _Morning Sun_ I recognised the move.

Syne then opened his eyes, a sharp blue glow enveloping them as each fallen spark of light was gathered and tossed around the room like snowflakes, filling me with a sense of awe. I was almost ashamed to admit that, although small, it was a rather breathtaking spectacle.

Syne took a deep breath, panting slightly from the effort, but he looked impressed with himself nonetheless. " _That_ is what contests are all about, much more about control and technique than raw strength."

I shook my head quickly, regaining my composure. "You mean to say that pokémon can't be in awe from absolute power?"

Syne quickly shook his head. "Definitely not. There is a certain beauty in a pokémon's strength too. Even watching battles involving the pokémon league challengers is a sight to behold. The amount of training required to control your abilities in battles and contests are the same, just different techniques applied for different results."

We both sat in silence for a while, I was replaying Syne's simple, yet quite effective display through my head many times over. I had never seen such an approach to pokémon's abilities before. To say I was impressed would be an understatement.

"Luyo?" I turned back to look at Syne, his expectant eyes almost studying me. "Are you going to tell me about your past?"

I huffed and turned away, opting to lay back down on the bed. "No." Was the only answer I gave.

"Aww, come on… I told you about mine, it's only fair."

"Life in the wild isn't fair."

"You're not in the wild anymore."

"That doesn't make it any easier to tell."

"I'll keep an open mind."

I growled under my breath. "It's just not the same."

"What makes it so different?"

"Things aren't as easy as you think."

"Try me."

I clenched my paws, lightly digging my claws into the bed. "You think you could handle the wild?"

"I never said I could, I just want to learn what makes it so hard."

"Alright then. Let's play a game."

"Oh, this'll be fun!"

I forced myself back upright, moving to the floor before jumping up on Syne's bed. "I'm now in your territory, what are you going to do about it?"

Syne tilted his head to the side and blinked twice. "What are you talking about?"

I took a step forward, standing within striking distance of the Espeon. "I'm now taking your food, and your home is nicer than mine, I think I want to take that too." I prepared my fighting stance, growling under my breath. "What are you going to do to stop me?"

"Luyo, you're scaring me." Syne shied away, almost falling over in the process.

I leapt at the Espeon, pinning his body under mine, placing my blade at his throat. "And now you're dead, I've taken your home as my own." I released the petrified psychic type and returned to my bed on the opposite side of the room. " _That_ is what life in the wild is like."

A moment later Saria burst into the room, noticing Syne prone on her bed, a look of terror in his eyes, his breathing was uncontrolled and his fur matted with sweat. While I sat on the opposite bed, as normal as I had looked when she left. "Syne! Are you alright?" She almost leapt onto the bed herself, immediately wrapping the Espeon in a hug. "Luyo! What did you do?" She shouted at me as I started to clean my fur, knowing full well there was no point trying to talk to her.

I waited several minutes, just cleaning the fur on my chest before noticing Syne's gem glowing on and off as Saria whispered quietly to him.

"Do you understand the wild a bit more now?"

Syne flinched at the sound of my voice, but could at least look at me as he spoke. "P- point taken." He took another few breaths before saying anything more. "Please warn me before you're going to do that again."

"The wild never gives you a warning."

"Then remind me to never go out there alone."

I saw Syne's ears twitch, he glanced towards the upper corner of the room before he looked up at Saria, gem glowing brightly. "Mark's here!" Saria shouted, jumping to her feet, grabbing her bag and immediately rushing out the door.

"How does she know that?" I asked myself aloud, causing Syne to chuckle to himself as he gathered the rest of Saria's things.

"Psychic, remember?" I watched as Syne picked up the two bags she brought in earlier, along with a couple small objects from the side table. "Come on, time for you to meet Zephyr and Mark."

I forced myself upright, stretching my forelegs, planning on avoiding the pain in my left hind leg this time around. "Anything I should know about them?" I stepped out the door as Syne floated the rest of Saria's items outside, closing the door behind him.

"Not really. Zephyr is very quiet, usually opting to do his own thing during the day. And Mark, well, it's been a while since he brought home a new pokémon. Rathe had a bit of a rocky start, but she's fit in now."

"Who's Rathe?"

Syne started down the hallway as I followed close behind. "Rathe is a Marowak Mark captured outside Oreburgh City, just off the base of Mount Coronet."

"Funny, I've never seen a Marowak near the mountain."

"They really hate the cold, or so Rathe has told me."

We turned a few corners, walking at a relatively slow pace. I walked several steps behind Syne, watching as his tail flicked back and forth with each step. The forked end twitching slightly every so often. "So what about the other pokémon Mark has?"

"He only has two others. A Roserade named Blossom, and Flitts, a Ribombee." Syne paused for a moment, looking back at me as my view snapped to his eyes. "Flitts is insufferable alone, but Blossom has learnt how to control him."

"You think that's why Rathe had such a hard time?"

That got Syne to stop. I took another two steps forward before realising I'd left him behind. "What do you mean?"

"Well, think about it. You have a grass type, a bug type and a psychic type. They're all fairly similar in terms of what they like and what they're good with."

"Right…" Syne said slowly, I could almost hear his mind working.

"Well, a ground type isn't really going to fit in there, is it?"

"What about you then? Dark doesn't really fit into the equation here either."

"Probably not. I'll admit, _Flitts_ is likely going to get on my nerves, but through you, I'll have an 'in' with the others. And I'll likely get along well with Rathe."

"I thought you said you'd never met a Marowak before." Syne started moving again, this time staying beside me. "And _Flitter_ is his actual name. He just prefers to be called 'Flitts'."

"Good to know." I said softly, reminding myself to try and avoid the bug type. "But you're right, I haven't met one before. However, Rathe was a wild Marowak, so we'll have more in common than you think."

Syne shuddered for a moment. "Yeah, the sooner I forget your demonstration the better."

"Did I actually scare you?"

Syne glanced back towards me, his glowing blue eyes would've been unnerving, if not for his wavering voice. "More than you know."

We continued the rest of the journey in silence. Eventually, the crisp outside air assaulted me from all sides, the strong mountainous air billowed my fur in all directions. There was a no more liberating feeling than a stiff breeze.

Syne shivered beside me. "I'll never understand how pokémon survive out here."

I took a deep breath and looked back at Syne. He visibly wilted from the immediate temperature drop. "Looks like you need to grow a thicker coat."

Syne grumbled under his breath, turning away from me and walking off into the courtyard. "Come on, they're this way."

I took stock of the area around me. The large building behind me stretched on for a fair while, it was two storeys high and very long, making me believe we were in one of the last possible rooms. Across to my right was another building of similar colour, a slightly less weathered, but no more exciting beige, broken up by frosted windows and snow-laden trees. In the distance straight ahead I saw two separate buildings, both sporting a pokéball shape, so I figured they were related somehow. On the right stood the larger of the two, a red roof standing out proudly amongst the white mountains surrounding us, and a much smaller one with a blue roof.

Off to my left was a small garden, completely covered in snow, with a couple trees able to survive the bitter winters well enough to grow through summer. A couple benches sat around a few tables in the garden, and I saw Syne delicately trudge through the snow, trying his best to avoid the inevitable patches of ice. I dug a little of the snow out from under me, finding hard pavement underneath.

Nothing could replace fresh grass.

I quickly headed in the same direction Syne went, finding the floating bags as a dead giveaway as to his location as I saw a pair of humans in the distance beyond.

"-ut of money? What happened up there?" a distinctly male voice spoke.

"Well, a blizzard blew in, as you probably saw on the news, then Syne and I got separated. So I kinda went into panic mode, finding any trainer I could on the mountain to help me find him."

"I _knew_ it was a bad idea to let you go to Snowpoint City by yourself."

"Oh, relax Mark. We were fine. Actually, it was because of a pokémon that Syne found his way to me to begin with."

"Really, a _wild_ pokémon helped him?" I stood off to the side, using my fur to camouflage myself against the snow. A Pidgeot, who I assumed was Zephyr, easily spotted me, I expected nothing less, as hiding from flying types was about as easy as freezing a Froslass. But thankfully he didn't say anything. Syne just stood beside Saria, as Mark knelt down to scratch the Espeon. "So who was this pokémon who saved you?"

Syne set the other bags down on the ground as I saw his gem glow.

"Uh huh… An _Absol_? Wow, how lucky are you to find one of those? Don't tell me, it appeared to warn you of the blizzard?"

I growled under my breath, I should've known Syne would leave out some details. "Wait, she knocked down a stone pillar, to build you a _bridge_ … To climb down to the path? That was awfully nice of her." The increasingly varied tone Mark used told of his obvious disbelief. "Oh no, she got buried in the snow? Did you get her out?"

"And that's where all my money went." Saria said, picking up the bag of medicine that Syne had brought out with him, before looking out in my general direction, but never actually focusing on me. "Come on out Luyo, I know you're hiding here somewhere."

I guess that's the best introduction I'm going to get. I stepped forward, making enough noise to gain their attention as Mark turned his gaze in my direction, I moved to take a seat several paces away from Syne, as Mark simply looked at me in awe.

"You weren't… Joking…" He said softly. "An _Absol_ …"

"Luyo, this is Mark." Saria took a step forward and gestured between herself and I. "Luyo told me she wanted to come with us."

"Y- you already gave her a name?"

"No, she already _had_ a name. Her old trainer abandoned her up on the mountain almost a year ago. And from what Syne has told me she's been waiting for another ever since."

Mark quickly looked behind him, to watch as Zephyr preened his feathers. "You didn't think to say something when there's an Absol nearby?"

Zephyr bristled. "She posed no threat, and Syne showed no signs of distress. So I didn't see the need to tell you she was there." His voice was refined, sounding almost like the simple act of voicing his opinion was beneath him.

Mark looked back towards me, and sighed, before shrugging and turning back to Zephyr. "Well, it looks like you're coming with us then. You still feeling good Zeph?" A swift nod in response from the Pidgeot answered that.

Saria simply cheered. "Now, there's just one problem. I haven't actually, _technically_ , caught her yet."

"What!?" Mark shouted, his happy tone from before all but evaporating upon Saria's sudden revelation. "You mean she's still _wild_?"

Saria chuckled. "That's usually what 'I haven't caught her yet' means." She pulled out the two pokéballs from yesterday. "I gave her the choice of what ball she wanted, and both the Ultra ball and Poké ball didn't suit her liking. But…" Saria reached into the plastic bag with the medicine to produce the paper from earlier. "She would love one of these! Do you have any I could use?"

"A Premier ball? I thought those were so useless the pokémart simply gave them away."

"They do… Kinda." Saria started, shoving the paper back into her bag. "They give you one for free for every ten pokéballs you buy. I figured since you were a trainer maybe you'd have one spare?"

Mark sighed and slung his bag off his shoulder. "Let me check." After several minutes, numerous different coloured balls, potions and papers were scattered over the ground. Eventually, he'd struck gold. "Ah-ha! I knew I had one somewhere."

Mark tossed the slightly dusty white and red pokéball towards Saria, who immediately dropped it in the snow. "Damnit Mark, you know I can't catch anything."

He simply laughed in response, before starting to gather his own belongings back into the bag. "Well, you're the one who made me do this."

Saria knelt down to pick up the ball, brushing the rest of the dust off it. "No, I'm just doing right by my pokémon by letting them choose their ball."

"Because our pokémon spend so much time in their ball…" He responded, it seemed that these two didn't care for them much either.

"Maybe Luyo likes it inside, you ever think of that?"

I growled softly, but Mark quite obviously heard it.

"See? If she hates them, then why bother giving her the choice of what to use?"

Saria sighed before bringing the ball directly before her eyes. "Because I've seen other coordinators use these balls, and they do make a rather good entrance to a routine."

"You know you can replicate it with stickers, right?"

"I know I can, but it's never the same." Saria dropped her arm, but readied her stance, looking back at Mark. "So how do I do this?"

"Do what?"

"How do I catch her?"

Mark sighed heavily, before pointing at the ball. "The easiest way to do it is to just throw the ball," he then pointed at me. "So that it makes contact with her."

"Oh, that's easy!" Saira took a step back, before raising her arm. "Are you ready Luyo?"

I sighed and prepared myself, remembering what Nurse Joy had told me so long ago. "Just get it over with."

"Alright, here we go!"

Saria spun her arm around several times, before taking aim with her left arm and tossing the ball clean over my head, a quiet puff from behind me causing Mark to double over from laughter.

"Hey, that was my first try! I'd like to see you do any better!" She pushed Mark over, causing him to fall into the snow.

"I- I- Ha ha!" He took a deep breath as Saria kicked him in the shoulder. "Ah- ouch! I have done better! I have three captured pokémon as proof!"

"Then can you do it for me _now_?" I gave up, it could be all day before she actually does it properly.

I turned away from the pair, finding the white ball poking out in the snow. "No can do. Luyo is your pokémon, so you gotta- Hey, what's she doing?" I dug the ball out, placing it on a little mound nearby, before doing as I had done last time, poking the centre button with my nose and immediately losing all sense of the outside.

* * *

 **A/N**

Alrighty, chapter 2, meet person B and pokemon B!  
Admittedly, I don't think I'll be doing much with Zephyr, birds and I don't _really_ get along...  
Which is probably why I imagined Zephyr sounding like a high-class posh jerkoff...

Anyway, if you want to, tell me how you found it. We'll meet the 'others' next chapter, so see you in a week~or so


	4. New Home

Guess who forgot what day it was?

I did! (Sorry I'm late!)

And so here we meet the others... Well, another 3/6ths of the 'others' anyway.

This is a relatively short chapter, but I can't really pick things up quite yet anyway...

* * *

 **New Home**

I don't know how long it took, I was asleep for the entire trip. But when I was released from the ball I awoke to a very large white room with soft flooring underneath me. "Welcome to your new home Luyo."

I yawned and forced myself upright, seeing Saria and Syne standing before me, Mark in the background closing the door. On my left were two separate doors spaced very far apart. "I suppose I'll give you a quick tour." Saria jumped back into my view, standing beside the door closest to the exit. "This is Lisa's room, she's currently out at work, but will be back tonight so we'll introduce you both then." Saria then moved on to the next door, several metres along the wall. "This is Mark's room. Oh, I should mention that you shouldn't go into their rooms without asking first, since it is their private space."

"Well, private enough that I share my room with my pokémon." I heard Mark from behind me in a semi-open room, a half-wall not unlike my old home hid all but his chest and head.

"That sounds like a _you_ problem." Saria responded, moving to the massive wall-sized window opposite the main entryway. "Besides, Zephyr roosts outside, so you only have to share with Rathe, Flitter and Blossom."

"Oh hoo-ray." I heard behind me as Mark moved out of sight.

"Anyway, this whole room is a shared space. Everything here we all kinda own, so, try not to break anything." To the right of the window was a tall table, three chairs sat on either side of the surface with one end pressed up against the wall. A few steps from the tables end sat a large round depression in the floor. Numerous multi-coloured pillows sat scattered in the shallow dome. "I'm sure you can tell what these are." Saria said, motioning towards the table and cushioned area. "Once again, just try not to break or tear anything. I don't know how sharp your claws get." Saria then turned around to look out the window. "And I'm sure you saw this coming, but behold! Veilstone City!" She threw up her arms and placed both hands as high up on the window as she could.

The view was immense. I don't know whether or not it was because we were relatively close to the ground, or if there weren't so many large shiny buildings in the way, but Veilstone City certainly had a lot going on.

To my dismay, however, I couldn't see a single hint of green in the city. In the late afternoon sun there were numerous bright patches of red, yellow and blue, illuminating different sets of buildings, but not a single patch of grass or tree could be seen from the window.

I heard a flutter of wings, only to see Zephyr land near the top right corner of the window. It was open, assumedly to let the Pidgeot inside, and a relatively small wooden structure hung out off the window, Zephyr fitting snugly inside.

"You can kill the theatrics, you're not in a contest." Mark chimed in again from behind. "But now that you've smudged the glass you can grab the window cleaner."

Saria visibly wilted and turned away. "Alright fine, mister kill-joy." She complained before moving over to the half-wall I saw earlier, walking through the open path onto what were the hard stone squares I once remembered. "This is the kitchen, you really shouldn't have a need to come in here." Saria then disappeared after opening a small door, pulling out what looked like a potion bottle, placing it on the counter. Before pointing to the door she'd just closed. "Oh, yeah, don't touch anything in those cupboards. They'll likely kill you if you eat or drink them."

I sighed quietly. "Noted." Who knows, maybe I'll find a use for them if things don't work out.

Saria then came to the last door in the room, there was a little cutout in the bottom right corner of the door, a translucent flap obscuring the view beyond. "And this is my room. Now your room." She pushed open the door and motioned for me to move inside. "I currently don't have a bed for you, since I didn't expect to bring a pokémon home with me. So you can pick where you want to sleep tonight until I buy you a bed tomorrow."

I walked into the dark room to find nothing really out of the ordinary. A single door stood to my right, open to another square-white-stone floor room. To my left was a bed, Saria's by the size. I jumped up onto it to gain a better view, and it looked as if two humans would easily fit on the bed. In the opposite corner to the entrance sat a deep violet cushion, where Syne was currently curled up, although he raised his head to look at me as I explored.

"Not a bad place, no?" He said, twitching an ear as he lay his head back down.

"I just need you to ask Saria one thing for me."

A red glow illuminated the room, as Saria stepped forward and faced me. "Yes Luyo?"

I was never quite sure who to look at when I was talking to Saria. Should I look at her because that was who I was talking to? Or should I look at Syne since he was my translator. I opted to look at Saria, since Syne looked like he wanted to sleep. "Do you have anything I could sharpen my blade on? Like a stone or something?"

Saria's features folded slightly, tapping her chin in the process. "Personally, no, I don't. But in saying that, I'm sure Lisa has something like that in her room to keep Kein's blades in check."

"Kein? Who is Kein?" I asked, turning back towards Syne who had failed to mention another pokémon.

"Wait, Syne never told you about him?" I simply shook my head, saving the time of a translation. "Kein is quite old, he tends to keep to himself a lot, so I guess it's not that bad. But Kein is Lisa's Gallade."

"How old is he?" I asked, opting to sit down as this conversation could take a while.

"I actually have no idea. Kein was Lisa's mother's pokémon from when _she_ was a trainer. After she passed, Kein became Lisa's."

"You never thought to ask her?"

"Well, we have. But Lisa doesn't know either. And Kein is older than Lisa. So, yeah. You'll understand when you meet her."

It was then that I saw a bright flash from the main room, and a very high-pitched voice break the sudden silence. "Oh it is so good to be free again!"

"Oh no." I heard from Syne behind me.

"Who is that?"

" _Flitter_."

Another two flashes quickly followed, this time without voices to go with them. "Aww, c'mon. One of you two must feel good to be free again!" Flitter spoke again, the shrill voice already digging at my patience.

"We do." A much darker voice responded. "But neither of us feel the need to vocalise everything." That had to be Rathe.

"But you're not wrong Flitter." Spoke another voice, by my powers of deduction it had to be Blossom. "It is good to be out again."

Saria turned around and headed towards the door. "Come on, you're going to have to meet the others."

I stood up and jumped off the bed to follow. "Good luck." Syne said, before I walked silently up to the doorway, opting to keep myself hidden from view until Saria said something.

"Hey guys, sorry about making Mark come pick me up." Saria opened, as I heard two of them disperse slightly, the constant buzz of Flitter's wings almost inaudible.

"Eh, s'alright." Flitts spoke, the language barrier seemingly lost on him. "I don't mind so much. Can't talk for these two though."

"Anyway, while I was up on the mountain I found someone."

"Wait, you mean you're leaving?" Flitts started.

"She never said that you bug." Rathe spoke, irritation easily identified.

"Hey, you don't hear me calling you _Groundie_ do you?"

"Stop it you two, can't you go more than five minutes without arguing?" Blossom stepped in.

"She knows I don't mean it." Flitts responded. He was obviously the youngest of the group.

"Anyway!" Saria spoke, almost as if knowing exactly what was being said. "I have someone you three have to meet. Don't be scared, she doesn't mean any harm to any of you." I then watched as Saria took a few steps back into my view, motioning for me to reveal myself.

I took a deep breath, preparing for the worst. Alright, here we-

"An Absol!" I heard Flitter's voice, the Ribombee flying directly in-front of Lisa's door. "I didn't know they still existed! Didn't the news say they'd all died off from-"

"Flitter!" Mark shouted, the Ribombee immediately stopping his words and flying back towards the window out of view.

I growled inwardly before crossing into the main room, seeing Blossom standing alone in the middle of the room, both bouquets held before her mouth, hiding what I heard was a gasp. And Rathe, standing against the far window, whose wide eyes completely filled the gaps in her bone helmet.

Flitter sat on the edge of the table, Mark having hold of the young bug.

"Blossom, Rathe, Flitts." Saria spoke, walking towards Mark in the corner. "This is Luyo, she saved Syne's life near the peak of Mount Coronet, and we in-turn saved hers." I shuddered at the thought, wishing Saria didn't leave the statement as open-ended as she had.

I moved closer, towards the centre of the room, standing just outside striking distance from the Roserade.

"Well, at least Saria had a name for you before getting back here. I know it took Mark took weeks to give Rathe a name." Blossom spoke. Her voice was soothing, a nice middle-ground between Rathe's rough tone and Syne's soft, bright words. Her poison typing nicely balancing out the usual grassy whines. "I must apologise for Flitter's antics, he struggles with the subject of subtlety. But my name is Blossom, I'm usually the one who calms him down."

I noticed Rathe slowly approach as Blossom spoke. "Noted. You will save me from doing it myself." Turning to Rathe, she quickly stopped, politely nodding her head in an odd show of understanding. "Which makes you Rathe."

"Aye." She said, placing one end of her sidearm into the floor, resting both hands on it before her form. "Is what Saria said true? Of how you saved Syne?"

I nodded slowly. "The details might be a bit off, but I did direct him out of the blizzard."

"Then why did they need to save you?"

I frowned at Rathe, not quite sure what she was getting at. "An error in judgement." I answered simply. Completely true, albeit giving no information whatsoever.

"Really?" Rathe lifted her weapon and stepped up to beside Blossom, who looked very uncomfortable from the conversation. "How does one save a lost pokémon, then fail to save themselves?"

"It was my duty, to warn those of incoming storms or avalanches." I sat down, pressing my claws into the carpet underfoot at Rathe's readied stance. "I don't suppose you've been in a blizzard before?"

"Been hit with the attack from a Glalie once, never want to again."

"Then you wouldn't know that any territory of mine that others stumble in to is a safe zone from nature when disasters roll in."

"You give up territory like that? For those who can't survive themselves?"

"Rathe, that's enough." Syne spoke behind me, causing me to immediately look in his direction. "Luyo is here, that's all that matters. You don't have to interrogate her about how it happened."

"My apologies Luyo." Rathe bowed slightly, turning away, and heading back to the window. "I lived as the head of my clan, so life in the wild followed strict guidelines."

"Can't say I had that luxury." I replied, before watching Flitter fly over to me.

"Sorry about before, I just really _love_ surprises!"

"So you feel the need to spoil it for others?" I replied simply, watching as the Ribombee flew circles around my head.

"Oh, it's not that bad. So what was it like?"

I tilted my head in confusion. "What was _what_ like?"

"Needing to be saved my Saria!"

I sighed quietly. "I can't say that I remember much of it."

"Oh come on, don't hold out on us like that! Surely you knew that you needed help at the time."

"Actually no, Syne being there caused it to begin with."

"So it was Saria's fault that they had to save you?"

"What?" I took a step back, trying to keep the bug from making my dizzy. "No, it had nothing to do with-"

"Flitter," Blossom said, reaching her right arm up before several vines appeared, wrapping around the Ribombee, his legs flailing wildly in-between the vines. "I think we should give Luyo some space."

"Awww, she would've told me if I was annoying her."

"Actually, I think she was just being polite. Remember what happened when Mark first brought Rathe home?"

Flitter's head went slack and his legs stopped moving. "Yes." He said with much less enthusiasm.

"Good, and we don't want a re-enactment of that now, do we?"

"No…"

"Alright, so let's give Luyo some space as she gets used to her new home." I watched Blossom with absolute gratitude, saving me from smacking Flitter out of the air. The Roserade simply winked at me, carrying Flitter into Mark's room.

Syne then walked up to my side, a little closer than I thought comfortable, but I didn't have the energy to tell him. "Can I say 'I told you so' yet?" He said with a laugh, before moving into the bowl of pillows and laying up against the side.

I pushed myself forward, opting to sit before the window, on the opposite side to Rathe.

"You lasted longer than I did." She said softly, I struggled to simply hear her.

I shook my head, but kept my gaze straight out over the city. "I've spilled enough blood from trainer's pokémon before. I don't intend on doing so outside a battle again."

"Foraged food in the wild can only serve so many. I can't imagine how hard it is to find berries up near the peaks."

"I wasn't talking about hunting."

Rathe glanced in my direction as I forced any tears away. "I understand your pain."

I walked towards the Marowak, lowering my voice so even Syne couldn't hear it. "I can only hope you don't." Before turning away and heading into Saria's room. Wanting a moment alone before I said anything more incriminating.


	5. Planned Future

**Planned Future**

I didn't know how long I stayed in Saria's room. Silently weeping from the scars Rathe had unintentionally dug up. It wasn't her fault, and I certainly wasn't going to blame her for it.

As far as I could tell none of them knew Saria was my second trainer. And why would Saria need to tell them? It was inconsequential. I was her pokémon now. And she's not a trainer, Saria is a _coordinator_.

I wasn't to perform on the fields of battle, but to be on a stage, making simple moves to awe a crowd.

Syne's little demonstration from that morning replayed in my mind, forcing the tears away and a smile appear instead. I certainly wasn't capable of doing something like that. Was I?

Not in that exact way, obviously, but can I turn my years of combat practise into a stunning visual sensation?

Well, no. Or at least I highly doubted it. Afterall, I only ever perfected the moves that proved effective in combat, not the ones that made pretty lights or filled the area with sparkles.

So, no. I wouldn't do well as Saria's pokémon, I would probably have better chances with Mark. He was taking on the Sinnoh League challenge, as Saria had said.

Or had Syne told me?

Either way, I had known the battlefield my entire life, and I likely wasn't going to be able to change that overnight because that's what my _coordinator_ wished me to do.

If Saria did ask me though...

No, it would be a waste of time. A waste of her efforts and my energy that could easily be better spent on more productive things. Like-

"Luyo?" I heard from behind me, Saria's voice breaking into the darkness of the room. "Are you alright?"

I glanced back, seeing the door open slightly, with no-one but Saria peering in. Why did humans insist on asking pokémon questions when they obviously weren't fit to understand the answer?

Saria approached the bed and sat down beside me, I wasn't sure what she was planning. "Thank you for not attacking either Flitts or Rathe, Syne informed me on what they were doing and to say that I was worried was an understatement."

I looked up at her, frowning slightly in the process. "I just wanted to come in to say thank you." Saria reached a hand forward towards me, unsure of her own will to pet me, before pulling back and sighing. "Even I am afraid sometimes. Knowing that only yesterday you lived by yourself up on the mountain. Alone. Reliant on no-one but yourself." I could feel her indecision coming in waves. No disappointment, but Saria seemed so unsure of allowing me into her home. "But who am I kidding? I don't know what it's like. I don't even know why you agreed to come with me… I'm no trainer, I haven't even won a contest yet. And yet here I am, with an Absol stronger than over half the pokémon I've ever met."

Standing up, I arched my back before stepping closer to Saria. Sitting down close enough that my fur was almost touching her. She simply watched as I looked up into her eyes. It was one thing for me to have to deal with my own problems, but Saria had less confidence than a baby Spinda. The only way to forget about old memories was to make new, better ones. And the best thing I could do now was to start building some with my new master.

Simply by staring at her, Saria slowly reached towards me again. Her hesitation more than enough for me to trust her, as I lifted my head, exposing the thickest part of my fur for her ministrations.

"Wow, you're so soft." Was all she whispered, as I felt her fingers run through the thick fur on my neck and chest. And the intense sensation of being scratched where I could never reach by myself was more pleasurable than I had ever remembered. It took all my willpower to not purr the instant she'd started.

"Hey, Saria." I heard from the doorway, immediately jumping away from Saria in the process. "Are you going to eat or what? Dinner's getting cold."

"I'll be right there." She half-shouted back, before turning back to me as I started straightening my fur again. "Thank you, Luyo." She whispered. "Thank you for showing me what I needed to know." I paused my work to look up at Saria, she simply smiled at the gesture. "Aren't you hungry too?"

At the mention of food, my stomach made itself known to me. I stood up and moved off the bed, walking up beside Saria before we both headed for the door.

"Ah, it's about time you showed up Saria." I heard an unknown voice from the kitchen area above the half-wall. "It's unlike you to need to be reminded about what time it is."

"I know, Lisa. But I just needed to say a few things to Luyo."

"Oh ho! This mysterious new pokémon everyone told me about!" Lisa's voice was hard to place. It was obviously feminine, yet it sounded scratchy, like she'd spent the entirety of the past few days howling and couldn't speak properly anymore. "Let me get a good look at-" I saw Lisa move around the half-wall, immediately stopping at the sight of me. "Oh, my." Was all she said, halting her movement and placing a hand over her mouth.

That certainly explained Lisa's voice. The nicest way to say how she looked was _weathered_. She was certainly the oldest human I'd seen before. And the paired glass ovals across her eyes made her them look bigger, in an almost unnerving way

"I never thought I'd see another one of you in my lifetime." Lisa grabbed hold of the bench and gingerly dropped to her knees before me, beckoning me closer. "Come closer, Luyo? Is it? Give this old trainer a good look at you."

I glanced up to Saria, and upon seeing her reaction of ushering me forwards I slowly approached, noticing that Mark's other pokémon had all but abandoned their food to watch me. Except for Flitter, anyway.

Once I was within touching distance, Lisa didn't waste a moment, immediately scratching across the top of my head and around the base of my scythe. "My best friend had an Absol, many years ago when I lived in Mauville City. They always said that Absol fur was softer than a Flaaffy, and they were right. But in Hoenn, they lived in a rather tropical area, so it was always argued over. But here, atop the frozen mountain. It's no contest." Lisa continued to scratch the top of my head. Because of her eagerness, I refused to move any closer, and I almost growled at her with how close to my blade she'd started. But it was as if she knew exactly where I couldn't reach. "And how did you find her, dear?"

"Well, actually Syne found her. Just as the blizzard was-"

"Don't touch that!" I shouted, taking a quick swipe at her hands and growling at Lisa as I leapt several paces back. I licked my foreleg twice before wiping off the base of my scythe.

"Luyo! What's gotten into you?"

"No, it's alright Saria." Lisa replied, groaning as she pulled herself upright. "I should've known to be more careful around an Absol's blade." She smiled down at me as I returned to a passive stance. "More sensitive to touch than Zephyr's feathers, as sacred as Syne's jewel and more lethal than Rathe's bone." I looked up at Saria who was staring at me. "An Absol's blade is their most important possession. Because without it, they'd rather not live."

"Oh, on that subject. Luyo asked me if we had anything she could use to sharpen it. And I know you do something like that with Kein."

"Ah, yes. A growing blade needs constant attention." Lisa moved back into the kitchen out of my view for a moment before passing a small white bowl to Saria. "It can become painful if left to grow for too long."

Saria turned away and placed the bowl on the ground, showing me the delicious brown spheres of food I'd remembered. "Wait a second, I thought you said Absol's couldn't live without their blades. If it grows back, why couldn't they just wait for it to grow again?" I immediately started eating. The complete lack of food yesterday and the two berries from this morning being immediately forgotten the second I ate some real food.

"Because it can't grow all the way back." Lisa said. "If the blade didn't grow back at all, then a small nick as a pup could mean they never live to adulthood. But if an Absol loses more than a quarter of their blade, it will never grow back to its full length." I heard a constant clatter from the table on my left as both Saria and Lisa had taken a seat there. "There was a story many years ago about an Absol in Hoenn who's blade had grown too long. Some genetic problem or whatnot. So doctors physically cut the blade in half and filed it down, while tracking the progress of what percentage of their blade they could lose."

"That sounds horrible. Having your most prized possession simply cut down because it was too big. It'd be like a Stantler losing their horns because they're too awesome." Said Saria.

"Not really, no. See, Stantler are big enough to support the extra strain on their neck, and their horns are also made of a lighter material. Absol, however are rather small by comparison. And under all that fur is a rather frail part of them. Why do you think their fur is so thick around their necks? It not only keeps them warm, but it's thick enough to stop most teeth, claws and blades they'll encounter from other wild pokémon. Of course, if their blade grows too long, or too thick, they can't support it without major health issues." I had finished my meal in what felt like record time, the happy warmth of a full stomach made me want to do nothing more than have a nap. "However, in answer to your first question Saria, yes. I do have something you can use to help Luyo file down and sharpen her blade."

I looked in the direction of the table at that line. Excellent! Lisa knew what I needed! "Awesome. When could she use it?"

"That, my dear, is where the problem is. See, the filing stone I use for Kein is something that'll never run out. I've been using it for over a decade now and it hasn't let me down."

"Oh, that's even better! Means I won't have to buy-"

"However." Lisa cut Saria off. "It's not something you can just run out and buy yourself, and it's not something you can get large enough for Luyo to use herself."

"What do you mean?"

Lisa stood up from the table and walked into her room, returning moments later with a clear rough stone, barely larger than her palm. "This is what I use, and unless you want to spend thousands replacing stones after Luyo has worn through them. I'll teach you how to sharpen her blade yourself."

"Don't I get a say in this?" I asked, noticing Syne's gem glow, but absolutely no reaction from the humans.

"What? That's crazy!" Mark spoke up. "You saw Luyo's reaction when you simply brushed against it, she almost looked ready to attack."

"Of course she did!" Lisa said in a strangely joyous tone. "How would you like it if someone you just met started fondling around in your trousers?"

"Wait, my wha-"

"Exactly! An Absol's blade is more important to them than life itself! Weren't you listening to me earlier?" Lisa moved back towards the table, placing the stone before Saria and taking a seat in her previous position. "But Saria, you are Luyo's trainer. So bond with her, have a relationship with Luyo as strong as the one you share with Syne. Then she will begin to trust you enough to care for her blades."

"You mean it's not so urgent that it needs doing now?"

"Of course not. Look at her," Saria immediately turned around to look at me. "it looks like only yesterday that she sharpened it herself, but in a week or so you'll notice it a little rougher around the edges, a month and it'll be no sharper than your finger, and I don't know anyone cruel enough to let it get that bad, let alone any worse."

Saria shifted in her seat to face the table again. "So that's it, I have a month to get Luyo to let me touch her blades?"

"Don't be silly! Just head down to the park."

"Oh yeah, there's those three rock piles scattered around there… I always wondered what they were for."

"And now you know."

I turned away from the table, their conversation falling to something much less interesting as I headed towards Saria's- _my_ room. Jumping up onto the bed, I still felt a slight twinge from my left hind leg, but it wasn't anything for me to worry about. I would be back at full strength tomorrow, and I would certainly make use of that. I padded across the soft surface, opting to lay down on the corner furthest away from the door.

I felt the bed move behind me as Syne jumped into view. "I take it you liked dinner." As neutral as ever.

"Never before have I had a more fulfilling meal that cost me no effort whatsoever."

Syne sat down on the opposite end of the bed to me, leaving as much space as possible between us without leaving the bed. "I'm also surprised you let Lisa pat you."

I looked back at the Espeon, he had one foreleg raised as if he were flinching just by the simple act of me looking at him. And his tail was erratically bouncing back and forth behind him. "Is it because you're afraid of me?" I simply asked, opting to just stare at Syne as he wanted to look anywhere but at me.

"N- no, not really."

"Not really?"

"Well, I know you're not going to attack me…"

"And yet you're still twitching like an abandoned Cleffa." I glanced towards Syne's tail, causing him to do the same as if not realising he was doing it.

"What do you want me to do?" He asked, jumping to a standing position. "When we're alone like this, I just can't help but feel jittery. Like when I first met you, when you used that Shadow Ball to knock down the pillar! I just used Protect to try and survive it. And then at the hotel this morning, you could've killed me without even breaking a sweat… And there I was, cowering like a newly hatched Eevee."

"That's nothing to be ashamed of, you don't have to be a fighter to survive."

"But now you're here. And Saria wants to get us to compete together!" Syne took a step towards me, before shaking his head and laying down on the bed. "I'm nowhere near as strong as you, so how am I supposed to share a _stage_ with you?"

"Wait, Saria wants _me_ to take part in her contests?" This time I stood up, shuffling a half-step back. "I can't perform! I don't even know what I could do!"

Syne's eyes lit up after I was standing. "B-but you said it yourself. There's beauty in strength."

"No, I was just getting to-"

"Syne? Luyo? Are you two alright in here?" Saria opened the door, moving in and turning the light on to see me standing on the corner of her bed and Syne laying in the middle. The covers looking like an absolute mess.

"Why do you want me to-" I paused, looking down at Syne as his gem wasn't glowing, he was still staring at me though. "Syne? Talk to her for me!"

"Oh, right." He shook his head rapidly, and once his gem lit up I continued.

"Why do you want me to take part in your contests?"

Saria looked genuinely confused. Before frowning at Syne. "I didn't expect you to rush in here and tell her." Syne's ears wilted as Saria looked back at me. "I said that was my _plan_. I didn't say anything about it actually happening."

"But all I know is how to fight."

Saria smirked at me. "So you're saying that you can't learn how to perform?" She paused for a moment, sitting down on the edge of the bed as Syne immediately moved to her side. "Look, Luyo, I know you haven't done anything like this before, but I'm only asking you to try. If you don't like it, that's fine, I won't ask you to perform on stage. But can you at least try? How do you know you don't like it if you haven't done it before?" I growled under my breath, looking away from Saria. "Please Luyo, trust me on this. I have a few ideas that would look _incredible_!"

"Alright, fine." I said quietly before looking back up at Saria. "But if I want to stop I won't ask you first."

"It's a deal." Saria picked Syne up, nuzzling her face into his neck, before turning around and heading back towards the door. "I want you to rest up tomorrow Luyo. I don't want any pokémon of mine sick or injured."

"Wait." I said, causing Saria to turn back around and face me again. "When can I work on my blades again?"

Saria frowned and leaned over, letting Syne back onto the ground. "This is about what Lisa suggested earlier, isn't it?" It was, but I didn't give a reaction, opting to just stare at her for the moment. "I'm about as excited about it as you are, believe me. If your blade is as sharp as the pokédex says then the last thing I want to do is touch it." She paused for a moment and sighed. "Alright. Rest up tomorrow, then we'll head to the park on the weekend. _After_ we do some practice, then I'll show you where you can sharpen your blades. I want to see what moves you know and what you're truly capable of." I glanced down at the bed, before looking back up at Saria. "Do we have a deal?" She asked, holding the door with one of her hands.

"Fine, I'll take part in your practise."

Saria simply smiled in response, and nodded. "Thank you." Were the only words she spoke before closing the door and leaving me alone in silence.

* * *

 **A/N:** Well, this is moving along slower than I expected...

Hey, me again... This is one of those moments where, with hindsight, I probably could've cut a fair majority of stuff out...

But then I'd have to think of something else to take it's place. That's alright, I'm working on it (slowly)

Next chapter should have some more action in it, if I can stick to the script this time.

Anyway, let me know if you like it, hate it, or hate bugs as much as I do.


	6. Wise Elder

**Wise Elder**

I felt a prodding into my side, forcing myself up to a defensive stance at the surprise attack. "What are you-" I paused, looking at Saria's wide eyes in the dark.

"Oh, I'm sorry Luyo. I couldn't see you there." I heard Saria apologise. I didn't know what time it was when Saria and Syne went to sleep. But I do know that when Saria moved into her bed her feet nudged me awake. "I didn't mean to wake you, I'll stay on this side of the bed."

I watched her shuffle over to the other side of the bed, leaving me with more than enough room to sleep as I had been.

"Goodnight, Luyo." I heard from behind me, Syne making himself comfortable on his bed.

Feeling my heart rate slow back to normal, I quietly slid off the bed, moving as silently as possible towards the door. It had been a long time since I'd been attacked while asleep. Although that Froslass certainly learned her lesson.

Pushing through the flap, I moved through the shared room towards the window. The lights from the city were almost blinding. Not only was I unable to see the ground, but looking into the sky was just a black haze of nothingness.

No stars, no clouds. Just a dull grey glow with no end in sight.

With nothing in the sky to tell me how far through the night it actually was, I retreated back to the circular pile of pillows and almost collapsed onto them, the soft feeling absolutely wonderful.

A soft click alerted me to Lisa's door, I held my breath on instinct and waited as, slowly but surely, a very tall Gallade strode into view. Without skipping a beat, he instantly looked at me and smiled. "Hello Luyo."

I didn't respond, growling to myself at the fact that I'd failed to hide myself twice now in as many days. "Now, now. Don't be too hard on yourself. It takes something truly special to surprise me." I watched as Kein moved across the room, moving up to the table and taking a seat like the humans had done when they ate. "Come up here, let us talk."

I stood up and grumbled to myself, I didn't know how tall Kein was, but he was close to twice my height. "Why do you want to talk to me?" I asked, taking a step out of the pillows.

"Why would I not? I have questions for you, and I'm sure you have questions for me." I noticed a slight blue glow engulf one of the wooden chairs as Kein pulled it out enough for me to fit. "So, please. Sit. Let's not behave like children about it."

Moving towards the chair, I jumped up onto it before sitting down facing the Gallade. I noticed a bowl sitting before him, filled with what looked like the same food I had earlier.

We sat in silence as Kein slowly ate. I started tapping the flat of my blade against the back of the chair, the high pitched _tang_ of my tail balancing nicely with the dulled wooden sound.

"Could you stop that, please? I don't want the others to awaken."

"Then why ask me to talk if you're not going to say anything?"

"I was simply finishing my meal." Kein finished the bite he was hovering before himself, taking a deep breath afterwards. "But if you'd prefer, we can just talk now."

"As opposed to the alternative."

"Quite." Kein lifted a small piece of cloth and wiped across his mouth before returning it to the table. "So, tell me. How do you find it here?"

"Much louder than I'm used to, but-"

"Yes, I know. Flitter can be a bit of a handful." I frowned at Kein, how did he know I was going to say that? "Are you getting along with Syne alright?"

"We get along fine. It's going to be harder since he's scared to be alone with me."

Kein hummed for a moment. "Syne can be quite jumpy around stronger pokémon. Let alone pokémon who are stronger than him _and_ hold a type advantage. But I'm sure he'll warm up to you in time." Pausing to take a few breaths, Kein continued. "And what about Saria. Hmm? Is she to your liking as a trainer?"

I tilted my head to the side. "What are you getting at? Are you waiting for me to give you a truthful answer so you can pass it on to them later?"

Kein's eyes flashed for a moment. "So what if I am? What reason do you have to lie to me?"

"I _don't_." I said through gritted teeth, feeling my jaw clench onto nothing. "But doesn't that make-"

"Then you shouldn't have any proble-"

"Stop interrupting me!" I watched Kein's eyes glow blue for a moment, before closing them slowly.

After a heavy sigh, he opened them again. "My apologies. But I'd prefer it if you could vent your frustrations in a slightly quieter way."

"Then why _did_ you want to talk to me?"

"So that I could get to know who you really are. Who is the _real_ Luyo."

I paused, staring intently at the Gallade. "What?"

"I know you had a trainer before Saria, it's obvious that you know more about humans than any wild pokémon. I saw how Rathe was when she first arrived, and countless other pokémon that my master captured all those years ago."

"So what happened to the rest of her pokémon?"

Kein softened his gaze, a slight glint reflected back at me from the city lights. "Like every thing that grows too old, they died. Lisa herself never had any pokémon, never liked the idea of keeping us as pets, but when her mother died I became hers, and she's cared for me ever since. It was her mother's wish."

I simply gawked at him. I couldn't imagine how hard it would've been, watching everyone you know die around you just because they were old enough.

"I am but the lone survivor, been almost twenty years now. Only another twenty more to go."

"How did you live longer than the others?"

Kein simply smiled at me, and tapped the side of his head. "Psychic. Psychic types have the longest lifespan, naturally so, because our minds are strong enough to hold our bodies in check. Fire types, on the other hand, burn brightest, which cuts their lifetime short. Poison types, ironically, have the second longest lifespan. Owing their longevity to an immunity to disease."

"What about me?"

Kein hummed softly. "I would like to say that you'll live as long as Syne will. But alas, such is not the case. But you should have an average lifespan, about as long as Ice and Water types."

"So how old are you now?"

A soft chuckle left the Gallade. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you. But I think that's enough about me, you've moved the subject quite off-topic here. Besides, fair is fair, I want to learn about _you_ now."

"Fine." I took a deep breath, I'm not sure how much he wanted to know. And I certainly wouldn't share everything. "Yes, I have been captured before."

"It only makes sense that you were. Tell me, where did your old trainer live?"

"Hearthome City." I responded swiftly, narrowing my eyes slightly.

"Is it a nice city? I haven't seen much of Sinnoh myself."

I paused for a moment, maybe all he wanted to know was where I came from. "It is. Although the buildings there are much taller than these ones." I tilted my head back and motioned to the view behind me. "It is a nice view up here at least."

"That's because we're on the edge of the city." He replied quietly. "All the skyscrapers are that way." Kein flexed his arm around, pointing directly towards the main entrance. "Did your old trainer have any other pokémon?"

I flinched, clenching my claws into the chair slightly, as I hoped the reaction didn't show on my face. I couldn't say that he had a lot of pokémon… I couldn't think of enough to make a convincing lie. But I couldn't just sit here and say nothing! Kein was staring at me, those piercing red eyes stared at me as I stared back at him. I had to think of an answer, I couldn't say that Shay didn't have any pokémon. Well, he did now, ever since I'd killed-

"Are you alright Luyo?" Kein asked calmly, as if he were politely ignoring my inner panic.

"F-fine… I'm fine." I released the tension in my claws, sorting my thoughts as quickly as possible. "I don't want to talk about them." Was my only response, I scowled at Kein, wanting nothing more than for him to drop the subject and move on.

"Are you sure?" He insisted. "It looks like something that you'd rather get off your-"

"I _said_ I'm _fine!_ " I pushed away from the table, landing on the floor and sitting before the window, taking in the overbright lights of the city below.

It was hard to make out anything in the lights below, my vision blurred as I felt tears forming around my eyes. I clenched them shut fighting off the droplets, only to hear Kein move from the table and sit several paces away from me on my left.

"A touchy subject then." He said quietly. "You know, the first step to solving a problem is accepting that it is one to begin with."

"What problem?" I didn't know if he could see my eyes, I angled my crescent fur to block his view of my face. "Nothing's wrong."

"Then why can't you talk to me about it?" I hated how calm Kein's voice was. I felt like I was wounded, cornered and under assault by a Machamp.

"Because I don't want to."

"Were you ostracised by his other pokémon?"

"What does that even mean?"

"Did they ignore you?"

"No."

"Did they attack you?"

"No."

"Were you excluded from their activities?"

"No."

"Then what's the problem with talking about it?"

Kein had kept his calm voice the entire time. I didn't know if he was looking at me. I also didn't know what else to say. Was there really a problem with telling him about… _Nion_? What was at stake here? If he knew about what I'd done, would I be forced out of the group?

Of course I would, why would they want to keep a _killer_ around?

And I couldn't try and confuse Kein, he was much too wise. His mannerisms exuding extensive knowledge and experiences. Surely he would understand then, from my point of view what I'd told myself that day so many moons ago. That it was the right thing to do, that I hadn't intentionally meant harm in any life threatening way.

Would he tell the others?

I had no idea. If I learnt that information about a pokémon I'd let into my home I'd want everyone to know they were dangerous. Especially a pokémon as strong as I am. I couldn't match Kein though. Even then, Rathe carried herself with confidence, almost sizing me up in our first encounter… And Blossom obviously knew a thing or two about battles, her precision with her Vine Whip to delicately gather up Flitter showed great skill and finesse. And Zephyr? Well, it wouldn't have been easy to carry two humans down the mountain, that's for sure.

I heard a voice behind me, but I ignored it, opening my eyes to the lights below once more. Thankfully the tears were gone, and I took a deep breath to steady myself once more.

"Luyo?" Kein spoke quietly. I turned to face him only to see that he hadn't moved from before. "Is it really that hard for you to talk about it?"

Yes, it was. But against battles I could win, I never ran away. "I'll tell you." I said quietly. "As long as you don't tell anyone else what I'm telling you."

"I can't promise that." Kein narrowed his eyes and stretched his arms, probably intentionally showing off his blades in the process. "You know just as well as I do that protecting my home is more important than a promise."

"Yes, but the mere fact that I'm telling you should mean more than trying to hide it."

"You make it sound like you killed your trainer."

I swallowed once, feeling the lump in my throat. "I-." I watched for his reaction. I felt the despair from Shay abandoning me up on the mountain, feeling the strength of the blizzard through my blade all over again. "It wasn't my fault."

Kein's eyes went wide. "Y-you did? How could you?"

"It wasn't my fault!"

"And how was it not your fault? Were you not in control of yourself when it happened?" Kein stood up, and faced me, battle-ready.

I simply sat there and stared at him. "Let me explain, before you jump to conclusions." I took a deep breath. "It was when he abandoned me, atop the mountain. I was trapped in my pokéball until he released me inside a cave. I felt the blizzard around us, it was _huge_. And so he shattered my pokéball, and left the cave. He ran into the blizzard and I never saw him again."

Kein stared at me, as if wondering if I was going to say anything more. "And he just left you there?"

"Yes."

"What about his other pokémon? Why did he only take you up the mountain alone?"

"He didn't have any others."

"Then why did he release his only pokémon?"

I took a deep breath and braced myself for an attack. I wouldn't actively defend myself, but I certainly deserved it. "Because I killed his only other." I spoke softly, finally speaking of my mistakes with another.

Why did I tell Kein to begin with?

I had no idea. I thought he would understand my situation. That he would take pity on me for being so foolish. I opened one eye, feeling the tears again, but I didn't care, I had to see his reaction.

Kein just stood still, staring at me. He didn't move, but remained in his fighting stance. Like he were expecting me to strike at him. "Why?" Was the only word spoken.

"We had a battle." I started, not wanting to say anything out of line. "Our trainer was a judge at a Hearthome battle tournament, I can't remember the name. So he left us to run around the park. See, I was captured in a strange circumstance the first time, I had been hit by an electric attack as I went to escape, climbing up a cliff. But on the final jump, I became paralysed, causing me to fall from the final platform and hit the stone ground below. The Nurse at the pokémon centre was surprised I survived the fall. But I knew his pokémon was strong, we just didn't know who was stronger.

"So I'd challenged him to a battle on that day. We'd ran a fair distance away from the tournament, so no-one would bother us during the battle. So we started our fight, I was hit by a Discharge or two and a Zap Cannon from him, when in return I'd only managed a cut across one of his hind legs. He wanted to call off the fight. I was almost out, but I refused to give up, and he refused to fight me. I wanted a clear victor, so I forced him to attack me."

"What did you do?"

" _Perish Song._ "

Kein's eyes widened. "Are you insane? What possessed you to do that?"

I choked back tears at the exact words Nion had said. "I didn't know how bad it was, I'd never used the attack before. But it gets worse. Now that I'd provoked him into attacking me again, I charged a Night Slash into my blade, but I was paralysed again. And when he went to hit me with a Slash attack, I caught his paw on my blade.

"Once I realised what I'd done… I- I ran, I made it back to th- the main arena… I- I was- wasn't fast e- enough." My breath hitched, tears flowed freely down my face, catching in my fur.

"Wait a minute. _You_ are the Absol that interrupted the final match of the tournament?" I didn't know it was the final match, I didn't care either. Kein lowered his stance, opting to just sit where he was before me. "And so he released you after that." I simply nodded, not knowing what else to do.

I was now under Kein's judgement. Accepting of any action he wanted to take to protect his home. I couldn't watch him, focusing all my energy on controlling my breathing, and trying to hold back anymore tears.

If he said anything in the time that followed, I didn't hear it. I don't know how long I sat there, with my eyes closed, calming and composing myself to what would inevitably be more questions from the Gallade.

"So now you know." I finally spoke, feeling strong enough to keep my breath steady. "Are you going to tell the others? Have them throw me out like the heartless killer I am?" I opened my eyes to see Kein kneeling in place, his eyes closed as a serene aura almost radiated from him.

"No." He said quietly. "Because you are anything but heartless."

"But you know what I've done, you know what I'm capable of, what-"

"And yet here we are." Kein turned around, facing away from me with both his arms outstretched either side of him. "There, is this better?"

"What are you doing?"

"Proving a point."

"What? How?"

"That you're no killer." Kein looked back at me, a smirk clear as day. "Otherwise you would've struck me when I wasn't looking. You could've easily done it, we both know it would've been easy… But you didn't." Kein turned around to face me once more. "No, I don't feel threatened by you, afraid of you, or even anger for what you did." He took two steps towards me, and knelt down to my eye-level. "Because I don't see a killer before me. I see a young Absol looking to start a new life. To rid herself of her past demons and remember what it's like to be part of a household. To have _friends_ and _family_ nearby whenever something troubles her.

"Because although we all have different trainers, and we might not get along all the time. When one of us has a problem, we'll stop at nothing to help them. And for you, it starts here."

I tilted my head slightly. "What starts here?"

"Your new life. But no-one else has to know what we have talked about. Let _go_ , Luyo. Find something here that makes you happy."

"So I'm just supposed to forget what I've done?"

"No! Don't forget your old life, and you shouldn't, lest you make the same mistakes. But make new memories with those you have around yo-" Kein's eyes flashed blue, as he looked back towards Mark's door. "It seems we have been talking a little too loudly, and I've stayed up later than I normally do."

The Gallade stood up and moved towards Lisa's room, walking backwards as he moved away from me. "I've seen too many pokémon ruin their lives on matters they can't control. You made a mistake, but it's over now. Use those lessons to guide you forward. Don't let your past rule your life Luyo. Because you have so many more years ahead of you."

"And you won't tell anyone about what I've done?" Kein opened his mouth to say something, but Mark's door creaked open, and in a dim flash, the Gallade was gone.

I glared at the slowly opening door, as Blossom stepped through, closing the door behind her quietly with her vines. Upon sighting me, the Roserade paused, seemingly startled by my presence.

"Oh, hello Luyo. I didn't expect to see you here." I simply stared past Blossom, wanting nothing more than to continue my conversation with Kein. "Luyo?" Blossom said again, walking closer to me.

I shook myself aware, now focusing on the pokémon before me. "Hello." I said simply, "Isn't it a little early?"

She laughed softly and covered her mouth with a bouquet. "No, I love feeling the dawn sun on my flowers. I just feel better during the day if I catch the sunrise." Blossom moved a pillow from the pile onto the floor beside me with her vines.

"Must be a grass thing." I said to myself, turning around with her to face the brightening horizon.

"Must be. Why are you awake this early?"

I glanced towards the Roserade, who seemingly took no notice of me at all. "Couldn't sleep."

"Too comfortable?" She glanced towards me and laughed, her laugh more soothing than Combee honey. I took a deep breath and ignored her joke, opting to just stare out the window. "I'm sorry, Rathe had the same issue getting sleep when she first arrived. If you want, I can help."

"How so?"

She simply giggled again. "I'm a grass type, silly. I can use Sleep Powder, or I could sing if that's what you're into."

I growled at myself for _that_ level of stupidity. "No thanks, I'm sure I'll manage." I spoke roughly, hoping to not let my own frustrations out in my voice.

"If you change your mind, all you need to do is ask."

As if on cue, the sun breached the horizon, blinding me in the morning light. I heard Blossom take a deep breath, as she looked visibly radiant, even with the smallest hint of sunlight. Grass types really did love the sun after all. That certainly answers one of the questions I'd always had about other pokémon.

"You don't have to stare, you know." Blossom said softly, giggling to herself in the process. I stood up and turned away, moving towards the pile of cushions in the centre of the divot. "Aww, c'mon. I'm just having some fun. I take it you've never actually talked to a grass type before."

Turning around, Blossom was perfectly still in the morning light. "A few times, but for an entirely different reason."

"Oh? And why was that?"

I laughed softly to myself this time. "Territory disputes."

It's funny how I could justify my actions against the Abomasnow when attacking on purpose, rather than what went wrong from mistakes. When it came down to continuing to live, or wasting away without food. Such is the difference between life in the wild, and being cared for by humans.

"Oh…" Blossom seemed to deflate slightly, but only for a moment. "I can't say I ever had that problem when I lived in the wild. When I was a Budew, we tended to gardens in the valleys outside Floaroma town. Humans came by all the time, but they were respectful, keeping their distance from us. But we were protected by the Staravia and Heracross who fed off our work. We fed them, they protected us. And we all lived peacefully, even with the Shellos who came up from the river."

"Sounds very peaceful." I sat down where I was, at the midpoint between Blossom and the pillows. "So then how were you captured?"

"I met Mark when he'd only just started his journey. Zephyr was his first pokémon, and I've known him since he was a Pidgey. Zephyr came into the garden seeing the Starly and Staravia playing, and he wanted to join in. We all started talking and the stories Zephyr had were grand. Of course, I know now that he was lying at the time, but I wanted to take part in those journeys. So, I asked the elders if I could go, and they allowed it. So I followed Mark out of the garden, eventually he noticed me and we've been together ever since."

"Have you ever wanted to go back?"

Blossom glanced back at me for a moment, before returning her full form to the sun. "No, I never want to leave Mark and the others if that's what you're suggesting. But I would like to go back to visit. If only just to see what's changed and if my friends have grown as much as I have." Blossom laughed again, reaching an arm out and extending her vines across the room to Mark's door, opening it ajar. "I thought I might warn you, but Flitter is usually awake at dawn, so if you want to take cover I'd suggest doing so now."

I watched as Blossom's vines retracted back into her bouquets. Having an ability like that, or being psychic, would've made my life so much easier up in the mountains. Shaking myself out of my stupor, I stood up, and turned back towards Saria's room. "Thanks for the warning." I said quietly back at the Roserade.

"It was nice talking to you Luyo." She said in reply, the same honeyed giggle filling the air from behind me.

I couldn't help laughing quietly along with Blossom, the sound more infectious than I ever thought, but refused to speak another word. Pushing back into the dark room, finding both Saria and Syne still fast asleep.

I walked around Saria's bed, past Syne in the corner, and found a spot on the floor as far away from both of them as possible. May as well try getting some sleep.

* * *

.

* * *

 **A/N** **:** So, this was hammered out quickly...

You know those moments when you just start typing, and everything comes so naturally?

Yeah, me neither, but this felt so easy that I couldn't let it go to waste... I'm worried that I didn't justify things enough here, but there's nothing I can do about it now!

Hope you enjoyed the longest chapter in the story so far!


	7. Practise Time

**Practise Time**

"Alrighty!" Saria shouted, I had no idea why she was yelling since both Syne and I stood less than three paces from her. "Luyo, let's see what you can do." I watched as Saria reached into her pocket, pulling out a small red device, just larger than her hand, a small black orb at the top almost staring through me.

" _Absol, the disaster pokémon. Absol are-_ " The voice was feminine, but didn't sound human at all. I tuned out from it, knowing that humans carried all kinds of objects that meant nothing to me.

I stood beside Syne in, what Saria called, _Meteor Meadow_. To me, it looked exactly like the park back in Hearthome City. Lots of trees scattered around in mostly square formations with many wide open grassy fields. Plenty of space to run around, play, or just enjoy the sun's warmth.

 _Or battle._

Currently, we stood isolated in a rather densely forested area. Our first location, which was in the middle of one of the fields, proved to be an inadequate location to practise, as many other humans couldn't help but gather around us. Maybe it was because Syne demonstrated the same move he'd shown me days earlier, only this time there was enough space for him to actually show off. Letting the small glints of light settle on the grass, before tossing them skyward, doubling the effect to simulate a heavy snowfall. It certainly reminded me of home.

But whether it was down to the abundance of light from the sun during the day, or the grander scale making the spectacle less, _special_. I didn't get the same feeling I'd had the first time I saw the move.

Certainly, Syne's light show drew the other human's attention, but once the light had settled and faded, all eyes were on me. And Saria, at least, didn't want anything to do with that.

So it was with an indignant huff and I sat down in the dark forest now, once Saria had noticed the other trainers staring at me, I was dragged into the pokéball without warning, and the next thing I knew we were standing in a forest.

" _-ight Slash, Psycho Cut, Perish Song, Detect and Shadow Ball."_ The inhuman voice from before finished as I started paying attention again.

"Wow, you have an impressive set of moves behind you, Luyo." Saria spoke. "Can you show me some of them?"

I licked my right foreleg, straightening out the fur that had gotten misaligned somehow. "It depends, are you going to put me back in the ball again?"

I didn't even need to ask Syne to translate for me. It was almost as if the action was second nature to him already. "Luyo, I'm sorry. I just didn't want all those other people staring at you while we worked."

"I hate those things you know, it was bad enough being carried here, let alone being forced in without warning."

"Well there's not much I can do about that. Unless you want to spend three hours walking here, I have to catch the train across town. And they don't allow pokémon out on the train unless you're, like… As small as Flitter."

I sighed and stood up, stretching out my legs in preparation for battle. "I wouldn't mind the walk." Saria simply glared at me. "Alright, fine. What move would you like to see first?"

"How about a Shadow Ball?"

I glanced around the area, it wasn't dense enough with trees to hinder movement, but they were tall enough to block out the sun from above. "Very well." I closed my eyes and channeled the attack before me, making a Shadow Ball barely larger than my paw, before throwing the attack away from the others, it detonating in a puff too small to make a dent in the nearest tree.

Saria just stared at me. "What?" I said.

"Luyo, surely you're capable of more than that. I don't think that Shadow Ball would even hurt _me_."

"Well, for that, I'm going to need a bigger space." I took a few steps back, this time focusing into my blade for a Night Slash. "Watch your heads." I watched as the two others bounded away from me. I pushed more energy into my blade, looking skyward, I loosed the attack. The massive crescent blade slicing through the air above me, cutting through the branches and leaves above me. I took a deep breath and used Detect, sensing the branches from above and where they would land, dodging out of the way as the splintered wood clattered to the ground around me.

After the effect ended, I found myself standing atop a heap of broken branches as many more leaves fell to the forest floor around me. Both Saria and Syne stood off to the side, a look of horror on Saria as Syne simply stared at me, either in fear or admiration, I would never know.

"Luyo! Why did you do that?" Saria stormed up to me, standing at the edge of the fallen branches. "We could've easily moved out into another field so you wouldn't have to just _destroy_ them!"

"But you wanted to see what I could do." Was my simple response, only for Saria to pause and turn around, noticing Syne was still staring at me, not actually translating.

"Syne? Hello? What did she say?" The Espeon simply shook himself awake, and his gem glowed again. "Could you repeat that Luyo?"

"Syne, just move these branches and I'll show you what I mean."

"A- Alright." He said quietly as I bounded off the mound of branches. Not a moment later the pile was lifted off the ground, and moved aside, allowing me to stand at the edge of the hole in the trees and look up towards the sky.

"Now, Saria, you wanted to see how big Shadow Ball can get?" I watched Syne as he slowly moved behind me.

"Uh, yes?" Saria responded quietly. "Although after seeing what you just did, I almost don't want to anymore."

I simply laughed, feeling almost like Blossom in the action. "Well, I want to see it too, so. This'll be fun for both of us."

Taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes once more, feeling the light drain on my energy from the Night Slash from earlier. Doing this in the wild would lead to almost certain death, focusing so much of your energy into an attack would be worse than having fire like the trainers who climbed the mountain. Every pokémon within scent range that was hungry descended upon those trainers, wanting some of their cooked food. And every wild pokémon who wanted more space to call home would hunt down whoever was stupid enough to display such an attack.

I felt the orb form before me, starting off small, no larger than my head, but as I fed more energy into it, I felt the immense heat radiating off it. The Shadow Ball I'd used up on the mountain was barely larger than me when I released it, allowing Syne back down onto the well-travelled route. Even holding that attack for as long as I did made the blizzard around me nonexistent.

But I could feel my face burning, and the smell of singed fur around me as I continued to feed energy into the attack. I dared to open my eyes, seeing nothing but the purple-black mass of energy before me, the ground under my forepaws being eaten away by the attack.

"Luyo! Stop! It's too dangerous!" I heard Saria from behind me. I didn't dare turn around or try to respond, the power it took simply holding the attack together was almost too much to handle. I could feel my it sap my energy reserves at an alarming rate. If I fed any more energy in, I wouldn't be able to launch it away.

My claws dug into the ground as I heaved the mass of energy into the sky. As the Shadow Ball passed through the hole I'd made earlier, the stray leaves were simply incinerated as it passed. I watched the orb slowly float into the sky, as it moved further away and lost more of its energy, eventually, the attack disappeared without a trace.

I panted heavily, simply unable to even stand at that moment. I brushed a paw through the crescent fur on my face only to have them catch immediately, and become stuck without even breaking through to the other side.

"Luyo, that was incredible!" Syne bounded to my side, he looked positively radiant and excited. "How did you do that?"

I pulled my foreleg back to the ground, only now noticing the divot that even at a full sprint I'd likely not clear in a single bound. "I- I don't- know." I couldn't even string a few words together.

"Alright young lady." Saria stood between Syne and I, her hair an absolute mess. "I don't _ever_ want to see you do that again. Look at the damage you caused just _making_ that thing, let alone if it actually hit something!"

"But- you said-"

"I don't care what I said, I was wrong, and I'm willing to accept that. _You_ on the other hand should know what _is_ and _isn't_ safe. What would've happened if you couldn't control it?"

"But I- got it-."

"I don't care! Your Night Slash was one thing. _That_ was impressive and looked cool." Saria moved to cover her mouth. " _If only you'd told me what you were doing._ " She mumbled, before returning to her stance before. "But! Making an attack like _that_ , which could've killed me, you _and_ Syne. That is totally unacceptable."

I took another few deep breaths, doing everything I could to return myself to normal. "Alright, I won't do it again." I relented. It was one thing to see what I was capable of, it was another to do so recklessly.

"Alright, _now that that's sorted_." Saria turned around and headed off in a random direction. "Follow me, we have some _actual_ practise we need to do."

I pushed myself into a standing position, finding my legs unsteady and unwilling, but capable of carrying me behind Saria.

"I thought it was amazing." Syne spoke as he fell into step beside me.

I smiled at the Espeon, knowing that at least one of my audience enjoyed the show.

Saria walked several fields over, finding a place where the least number of other trainers were standing, and turned back to face us after passing through the fifth line of trees. "So, now that we know what you're capable of, let's see if you can actually _do_ something with it." Saria pointed at me. "Luyo, can you make a _small_ shadow ball, and hold it steady?"

In the long walk over, I had managed to catch my breath at least. I still felt tired, but could do a few little things. "Sure." I formed the orb before me, holding it just outside my forelegs reach.

"Alright, now, how long can you hold it there?"

I tilted my head to the side, causing the orb to follow my movements. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, is it hard for you to keep it there? Can you move it around without losing control?"

I paused for a moment, feeling the flow of energy towards the orb. I took a step back, causing the orb to follow me back half as far, but I felt the draw of my energy both increase, and pull tighter at the same time.

"That's good, you can hold it further away. Can you lift it up, without moving your head?" Taking a deep breath, I focused my energy, feeling the pull become stronger as I watched the orb float higher than the tip of my blade. "Excellent. How are you doing? Is that too hard on you?"

I started panting from the effort, if I hadn't of used as much energy as before, it certainly wouldn't be. Saria seemed to immediately notice my strain. "Syne, can you take hold of the ball? Luyo, when you feel Syne controlling it, let go."

I glanced to my right, seeing Syne's eyes glow blue as I felt his Psychic take hold of the orb, completely cutting off my flow of energy. "Alright, good. Now, how stable would you say that Shadow Ball is?"

Looking at Syne, he seemed to have complete control over the orb, he looked focused, but not strained. "What do you want me to do?"

Saria moved around Syne, coming between the two of us and knelt down beside me. "Luyo, what I'd like to know, is can you cut that orb in half, without it detonating?"

I simply stared at Saria. "Why would you want to know that?"

"Because I have some ideas that I want to play around with for a routine. I just want to know if it's possible."

Shaking my head, I huffed. Thinking over everything I knew about the attack. "If I could keep control of the orb as it was struck, there's no reason to say that I couldn't keep it from blowing up. But it would cost much more energy to control because there's more area to hold in place."

Saria nodded, twice, her eyes looking skyward as she rocked her head back and forth. "Alright, I have an idea. Syne, throw that away, I have a better idea."

"Alright." Syne threw his head back, causing the small orb to fly skywards, disappearing in less than half the time of my larger attack earlier.

"Now, Luyo, can you throw a Night Slash out, make it just big enough to cut through a small orb like the one Syne just threw away."

Nodding, I focused the energy into my blade, tossing the attack into the sky, watching the attack as if faded completely from view. I looked towards Syne, who's gem was glowing brightly. "Oh, right, Psychic doesn't affect Dark moves. We had this problem a while ago, remember? Don't try to grasp the attack itself, just everything around it."

Syne nodded and gained a determined look. "Go again Luyo, I think I know what to do."

Once more, I channeled energy into my blade, I wasn't sure how many more attacks I could manage without passing out. But once more, I threw my crescent blade towards the sky, the rolling blade turning mid air, coming down into a wide arc around us.

"Alright Luyo, Syne can't hold the attack around here forever, make another small Shadow Ball and hold it as high above you as you can."

I took another deep breath, running on empty, I focused the orb before me, tilting my head upwards to move the orb, then pushing it as far out above me as I could. Holding this orb, which was no larger than both my paws together, as high as I could jump above me felt more draining than even moving the giant Shadow Ball from earlier.

"Alright, Syne. Guide the attack through the orb. Luyo, try and hold them both separate."

I focused all my energy on holding the Shadow Ball aloft, knowing that I wouldn't have to walk home was more of a blessing to me than a curse as I watched my Night Slash turn through the air, set on a collision course with my controlled Shadow Ball.

The instant that the blade made contact, I felt my energy deplete almost instantly. If holding a single orb up that high was on the edge, splitting it in two was overwhelming. I pushed the rest of my energy into the split orb-

* * *

 **A/N:**

Who likes updates?

(crickets in the background)

Yeah, I thought so too...

Quite a short chapter here compared to the others, but I couldn't think of anything else to throw into the mix.

Next one should be a bit longer, not sure what I have planned for it yet though... But I know what I want the next major event to be, it'll just take us a little time to get there...

Anyway, hope you enjoyed! See you in a bit!


	8. Bonding Moments

**Bonding Moments**

I stretched out my forelegs as I awoke, feeling the edge of the soft surface I slept on. I wasn't quite sure how I got here, but it was warm, soft and comfortable. Taking a deep breath, I couldn't quite place the scents from the surface I slept on. It wasn't the clean smell of nothing from the pokémon centre, nor was it familiar in any way at all. I lifted my head and yawned widely, feeling a pounding headache make itself known the moment I tried to move, and once that sensation started, my stomach also made its discomfort known.

I lowered my head back to the ground, remembering exactly what had happened to leave me in this state.

It wasn't the first time I'd passed out from exhaustion. It certainly felt better than being knocked out from pain, at least. But regardless, I couldn't live if I just lay here. Forcing my head back up, I opened my eyes and saw that I was back home, in Saria's room. To my right was Syne's purple bed, currently empty, but looking down underneath me, was a pure white pillow.

Saria did say she was going to buy me one.

Forcing myself upright, I moved towards the door, not even having the energy to soften my steps. As if on cue, the door opened by itself, allowing me to pass through without having to use the flap.

I hobbled out into the main room, noticing the three humans gathered around the table like last night, Saria instantly standing up upon seeing me and rushed towards me. I closed my eyes as she got closer, feeling her hands run around the back of my neck through my fur. I wanted to try and fend her off, but I felt that even lifting one paw off the ground would cause me to fall over.

"Oh, Luyo! Are you alright?" She sounded worried, I opened my eyes to see her staring straight at me. "You should've told me that you were tired, then I wouldn't have pushed you so hard."

I went to say something, only to have it die in my throat. I swallowed once, but desperately needed a drink.

"Oh, you poor thing. Here, let me help you."

Immediately I felt Saria's arms wrap around me, picking me up off the ground. I growled as loudly as I could, not wanting to leave the ground without my own will, and Saria certainly heaved from the effort, but it was for naught. She carried me across the room and placed me down behind where Mark and Lisa were sitting at the table. "Just wait here, and I'll get you some food and water."

I sat down, and winced, both to not look at the others and avoid seeing their reaction to my situation. There was no talk coming from both Mark and Lisa, the light clatter of metal echoing around the room from them as they ate. Saria returned moments later, with two bowls, one a shiny white, refracting the lights in the ceiling down at odd angles, and the other a plain silver metal. "Okay, here you go." Saria knelt down and placed both bowls against the wall beside me. One filled with food, the other water. Exactly what I needed right now. "You eat up, alright? No pokémon of mine is going to go hungry."

I took a quick drink of water, the soothing liquid doing wonders just by itself, then voraciously tore into my food, not quite remembering how I ever lived without the dark brown food balls.

"You really need to stop babying your pokémon Saria." Mark quipped.

"Well maybe you need to baby your pokémon some more. If you'd seen how big Luyo's Shadow Ball was, you would know just how much she needs this."

"Oh, I'm sorry, I just didn't believe you when you said it was as big as this room."

"It _was_ as big as this room. Syne can back me up on that."

"Asking your own pokémon to back you up is like asking a guy if his wife is beautiful."

Saria huffed. "Well, if he was a decent man, he'd always say yes."

"Yes, and if he wasn't a liar he'd at least think about it."

"Just because you're jealous Luyo is with me."

"Yeah, yeah…"

"Oh will you two behave." Lisa chimed in. "Can't we just enjoy our dinner in peace?"

All three were silent for a moment, before another loud clatter echoed throughout the room. "Hey, you both know that I'm heading out to Canalave City on Monday to challenge the gym out there?"

"Oh, how long will you be gone?" Saria replied.

"Until Thursday at least. Want to give Zephyr a rest after carrying me out there and do some training out at Iron Island. Trainer's say there's a new mining company that moved in, been finding some really rare stuff. Story goes the miners wager some of their finds in battles."

"Does that mean I can raise your rent?" Lisa asked, laughing to herself the moment she'd finished.

I finished my food and took another drink, tuning out the human's conversation. Turning around to finally look at the other pokémon, Syne was beside Saria, sitting on a chair at the table. Flitter was sitting on Blossom's head, as she moved some of the pillows around in the dome with her vines, and Rathe was at the other end of the room, twirling her bone around in various different rhythms and patterns.

Forcing myself upright, I slowly padded towards Saria's room, making sure to give Rathe a wide berth so not to get in the way of her practise. As I got within a few steps of the door, it swung open for me, causing me to look behind and see Syne bounding along to my side. "Need some help?" He asked, nothing but genuine concern on his face.

The old me would've put a slash right across his face, leaving claw marks that would likely not heal properly unless immediately treated. But I couldn't help but feel happy with the help. This must've been what Kein was talking about last night. That no matter what happens, no matter who is around, every pokémon would help me, and I would be asked the same when the time comes.

"Thank you." I said quietly, nodding my appreciation, as I slowly walked into the room, Syne following behind me as he closed the door, cutting off most of the light from the main room. "Why did you follow me in?"

"I just wanted to apologise, and say that I was sorry." I padded onto my bed, then turned around, confused.

"Why?"

"Because I could've told Saria to stop."

Almost collapsing on my bed, I stretched my forelegs and yawned before laying my head down. "Syne, it was my fault. I knew I spent too much making that Shadow Ball, but there was nothing you could've done about it."

"But I could see you were struggling, before you used the second Night Slash, after your explanation on how much ener-"

"Syne." I said loudly, causing him to stop his speech immediately. "It's fine, really." I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. "All I need is some rest, it's nothing I haven't felt before."

"Okay… Alright." I heard Syne take a few steps closer. "Is there anything else I could do for you?"

I cracked one eye open, Syne was easily within reach, but I couldn't bring myself to push him away. I laughed softly, coughing in the process.

"Do you need-"

"No, Syne. I'm fine, thank you." I took a deep breath and nestled my head into the bed. "How much things have changed…"

"What was that?"

"Nothing…" I said quietly. "Just thinking out loud."

"Okay." I heard Syne move towards the corner of the room, laying down on his bed. "If you wake up at any time during the night, come to me, there's some more things I'd like to talk about."

I hummed softly. "And what would they be?"

"Just ideas for the contest and what moves you might know."

"Not many." I said through a heavy breath. "If it wasn't useful fighting, I never used it."

"Well, would you want to learn other moves?"

"I don't need to."

"Why not?"

"Saria seems to know what she's looking for, she'll come up with something." I nuzzled down further into the bed, feeling mere seconds from sleep.

"Well then, could you train me?"

I cracked one eye open, unable to see Syne from it. "What?"

"I mean, I know you're stronger than me, stronger than I'll likely ever be, but if I could train with you, maybe I'll be able to perform other moves, or control more energy with my Psychic."

Closing my eye again, I dug my claws into the bed, careful not to put holes in it. "Tomorrow." Was all I said, with a groan and another stretch, I wished for nothing more than sleep.

"As in, we'll do it tomorrow?"

"Talk tomorrow." I mumbled, ignoring anything else he may've said through sleep.

* * *

The next day I felt lethargic, the headache had stopped. _Thankfully_ , but all four of my legs ached. Had I needed to actively hunt for food, I wouldn't even bother trying. The door to the main room was open, allowing the morning sunlight to filter in, giving the room a dull glow. Glancing over to Syne's bed, he was awake and alert, cleaning himself in one way or another.

I yawned widely, mustering the strength to push myself upright and begin the day. Syne either didn't notice me or opted to not say anything as I slowly walked into the main room. I had a quick look up to the side of the bed, unable to see Saria from the limited angle I had.

Walking into the sunlight, I wedged my eyes shut, but enjoyed the subtle warmth radiating onto me. Cracking one eye open, I noticed a small shape sitting before the window, Blossom no doubt, as I walked towards the scattered pillows.

"It seems as though you had little trouble sleeping last night Luyo." She spoke, a soft laugh immediately following. My assumptions to who it was proving correct.

"Amazing how tired you are after pushing yourself to exhaustion." I replied without trying to hide my sarcasm.

"There's no need to be rude about it." Blossom turned her head back to watch the sun as I approached. "I'm only offering."

"Well, if the question had an obvious answer."

"That's still not an invitation to be rude." I sat down beside the grass type, simply enjoying the sun. "So was it really as big as Syne said it was?" I simply glanced at the Roserade, narrowing my eyes slightly. "I meant the Shadow Ball, not his-" A slight blush accompanied her statement.

"Why would he lie about it?" I looked back into the sun.

Blossom cleared her throat before continuing. "I- I'm not saying he did, but we all find it hard to believe."

"I don't know. It was hard to tell." I stated simply. "It doesn't matter anyway, as putting that much energy into an attack is just an invitation to counterattack."

"I never said it was a good idea, we were just… Skeptical, that's all."

"Well, it was something I'd always wanted to do, and I never plan on doing so again." I heard footsteps behind me, only to see Syne walking towards us.

"Good morning girls." Syne spoke, taking a seat beside me. I almost felt his fur brushing against mine.

"Morning Syne." Blossom seemed to rush, her characteristic laugh completely absent. "Has the, uhh… Staraptor come to roost?"

I looked at Blossom, questioning what she was talking about. "Uh, no. He's still circling above."

This time I turned to look at Syne, upon making eye contact he wore a very cheesy grin. "What are you two talking about?" I questioned, standing up and shuffling closer to the window, scanning the sky as quickly as I could. "Is there a Staraptor trying to fight Zephyr?"

"No, Luyo." Syne said with a slight laugh. "It's just a figure of speech. It's a human thing."

"Then why are you saying it if it's a human thing?" I turned around, putting both Blossom and Syne in view.

The Roserade simply giggled to herself, at least she was back to normal again. "It's something we've just picked up over time. Live with anyone for long enough and they'll rub off on you."

I shuddered at the thought. "I hope not."

"Why? Afraid Syne will become a fighter like you?" Blossom openly laughed that time, causing both Syne and I to stare at her.

"No." I replied swiftly. "I don't want to become like him."

"Hey!" Blossom laughed louder at Syne's protest, and none of us said anything more as the sun rose behind me. I watched Syne relax and enjoy the warmth it brought, mumbling to himself as he lay on the floor.

I didn't quite know what I felt in these moments. Surrounded by pokémon who have spent most of their life under a trainer's care, and yet in moments like these, I felt a strange sense of trust, of connection. That I was never to be alone so long as any of them were here. Staring at the Espeon, Syne in particular had such a soothing presence to him, like he could simply diffuse any situation by being there. Not through force by any means, but there was just this strange aura that nothing could enrage him. Always keeping a calm and level head, no matter what was happening around him. I noticed his tail flick into view, the slender appendage twitching as the forked ends pulled towards each other every so often.

Sure, he would go into a panic if threatened. I had proved that he acted like any other psychic pokémon when in danger, opting more on defence than offence. It wasn't something that I'd ever thought would happen again. That I was thoroughly enjoying the company of other pokémon, that I would have a psychic type as a friend, that I would be able to talk with my trainer directly and get straight answers from her. Even as I saw Blossom practically glowing from the sun's warmth, I couldn't tear my eyes away from the Espeon.

There really wasn't anything special about him. He was just another psychic type that didn't know how to fight, fled at the slightest hint of danger and did everything possible to remain the mediator during any dispute. I wanted nothing more than to make Syne happy, because I knew he'd do the same for me.

* * *

After the sun had risen high into the sky and the others of the household had awoken, I retired back to bed as I still felt exhausted. It wasn't the first time I'd overexerted myself from using my abilities too much. Luckily, the first time I didn't have to defend myself from anything hostile entering my territory. At least now I could just go back to sleep with no threat of danger.

Of course, that didn't mean I was free from interruptions entirely. Saria had come in just after she'd had lunch to check on me and provide a Leppa berry to snack on, which I was grateful for, as dinner last night felt entirely unsatisfying despite the overflowing bowl. And Leppa berries were always good quick sources of energy. Not great for healing wounds, but excellent for restoring energy.

I'd managed a few extra hours sleep until I awoke to Syne staring at me from up on Saria's bed. It was slightly unnerving to open my eyes and see him just sitting there. But it was nice to know he was keeping watch.

"Good morning." He said brightly, ears twitching as he said so. "Do you feel better now?"

I stretched out my forelegs, feeling my right foreleg crack after sleeping on it for the whole day. "Much better." I replied, yawning and pushing myself upright. The Leppa berry had definitely done its job. "You don't have to watch me you know. Just because I'm tired doesn't mean we'll come under attack."

He simply laughed as his gem lit up for a moment, half reflecting off his bright, wide eyes. "I know. I was actually sent in to wake you, but couldn't find the will to do so."

"Afraid you'd startle me and I'd attack you?"

"No," Syne quickly shook his head. "You just looked so peaceful, and I simply lost track of time."

That raised some questions. "How long were you watching me for?"

"About an hour."

"I take it you waking me up wasn't for anything important then."

"Not really. Mark is going away for a few days tomorrow and he wondered if you wanted to spend time with Blossom or Rathe before then."

It wasn't something that I'd considered. That I'd spent so many days around here, almost a week, and yet I'd spent so little time talking to Rathe and Zephyr.

Blossom I'd seen every morning just because I was an early riser. And Kein, seemingly, only came out during the night. But Zephyr spent little time around home, let alone inside, and I had no interest in talking to Flitter.

"I'm sure I'll get to talk to Rathe one day." I jumped onto the bed beside Syne, sitting down a few feet from him. "I don't think I'm going anywhere anytime soon."

Syne tilted his head slightly but shook it off, moving to lay down on his side, exposing his vitals in an extreme show of trust. "That's good, because I wouldn't want you to leave." I couldn't see his face, but he took a deep breath and relaxed, his tail flicking down towards his hind legs. "I would, however, like to train with you."

"And how do you think I could do that?"

"Well, it couldn't be that hard. Whether we have some mock battles or I practise controlling your Night Slash a bit better."

"So… What? You want me to throw a Night Slash out for you to fly around the house?"

Syne snapped his head up at that, staring straight at me. "No Luyo, that would be crazy. I just want to get stronger, because after seeing your… _Display…_ I see now more than ever how far out of my league you are." Syne stopped, looking down at my paws in the process.

"Syne, you don't have to be any stronger."

"Why not? How do you how strong I will need to be?"

"Because I'm the one who doesn't know what's happening. Your Morning Sun and Psychic together make a beautiful sight, _that_ is what contests are about, right?"

"Well, yeah. But-"

"And what do _I_ do? I can make a Shadow Ball the size of a small cave. There's nothing beautiful about that." I glanced away from Syne towards the door, not hearing anything out of the ordinary despite my increased volume.

" _Buchuare_." I heard a faint whisper from Syne, I immediately snapped back to him as he looked up at me, wide eyes open completely.

"What did you say?" I leaned back, heightening my view slightly.

Syne shook his head thrice, before looking down at the bed between us. "Nothing, nothi-"

"That was _not_ nothing Syne. What did you say?" I watched Syne's ears splay out, eyes darting back and forth.

"I- uhhh… I- I can't help it Luyo." I recoiled slightly at his words. "I- it's just… I can't help myself."

"You can't help yourself what?"

Syne took a deep breath, and righted himself, sitting up and facing me. "Whenever we're in the same room I can't help but just… _watch._ "

"So what? It's not like there's much else to look at around here. What's the big deal?"

My question gave Syne pause. He tilted his head slightly and seemed less skittish after what I'd said. "So, y- you… What?"

I sighed and stood up, moving towards the door. "Why were you so scared about that? Saying that you're looking at me…" Jumping off the side of the bed, I didn't hear Syne move at all as I headed towards the main room. "Is it alright that I've been looking at you too? I mean, who else am I going to look at?" I joked, moving in to the main room to find Saria and Mark placing bowls around the room for us.

Perfect timing. _Dinner!_

* * *

Oh man do I hate that last scene...

It's been a while, but here's the next bit.

I still don't like it, but, well, here we are.

Bleh, words and shit.


	9. Training Day

**Training Day**

Mark had taken off for Canalave city. He said it was off to the east or something. I almost wondered how Zephyr had enough room on his back for Mark to fit, but after seeing him leave the house at dawn I didn't see how he positioned himself on the Pidgeot.

Apparently they was due back in four days. I suppose it would be a fairly intense four days at that, ending in a gym battle against a collection of Steel types.

Of all the pokémon types to fight, steel was my least favourite. I always felt a distinct lack of progress whenever fighting them, as it seemed like the smallest of wounds were entirely ignorable by them. Not that I'd had many opportunities to fight Steel types, they were rare amongst trainers climbing Mount Coronet and naturally hated the cold more than bugs did.

But should Mark return successful then he'd have six of the eight badges necessary to compete in the Sinnoh league. Which he seemed excited about last night, so it was enough for me to wish Blossom luck in the fights to come earlier this morning.

Although to say that I doubted their chances would be putting it lightly. Mark would be relying heavily on Rathe to win most of the fights. Although I didn't know any of his pokémon's abilities, type alone would play a large part from the offset. Not that type ruled everything in an engagement.

Staring out into the sun I felt Syne sit down beside me, his tail nicking the edge of mine. I narrowed my eyes and turned to look at him, his eyes closed from the brightness of the sun. "Do you mind?"

"Mind what?" His tail flicked, settling out of my immediate range.

I sighed and turned back to look at the sun. "That, just your complete disregard for my space."

"But you said it yourself last night, that you were looking at me more than the others."

I recoiled slightly at his words. "What has that got to do with it? Do you look through your tail or something?" I stood up and turned away, only for Syne to reach his tail out and hold it against my chest in front of my forelegs.

I looked down at his appendage, contemplating striking it aside, but held my action until Syne spoke. "Can't we just sit here for a moment?"

"Syne, we have four days before the others come back, and I haven't seen Kein leave his room before midnight. So we'll have plenty of time together for me to work out just what you're going on about." I simply walked through his tail, feeling the split ends reach as far into my fur as they could, before I got to the centre of the room and Saria emerged from her room.

"Good morning Luyo!" She said joyously, squatting down to be closer to my height. "Are you feeling good today?" I nodded in response, not wanting to waste Syne's time translating for me. "Excellent! I guess that Leppa berry did exactly what it was meant to." Saria moved closer to me, using her hands as balance as she shuffled closer without standing at full height. Her hands reaching forward as she scratched me on the top of my head. I simply closed my eyes in pleasure from the contact and waved my tail back and forth slowly. "Oh, your blade is looking a little rough around the edges. I suppose I didn't show you where you could sharpen it last time we went out."

It was a fact that I was trying to avoid, that my blades were falling into disrepair as the week-and-a-half I'd gone without maintaining them seemed like a blur. I felt Saria slow her ministrations, her left hand lightly brushing against the base of my blade. I shuddered at the feather-light contact, pushing myself away from her as enough of an objection.

"I know you don't trust me _that_ much yet Luyo. It'd be like when I first tried to brush Syne's mane as an Eevee."

I glanced over my shoulder at the Espeon, who was standing stock still, staring at me. It took him a moment to recognise that both Saria and I were watching him, as he shook his head several times, his gem glowing almost immediately upon remembering he wasn't alone.

Saria simply laughed, trying her best to cover her mouth with a hand. "Why yes, we were talking about you Syne, nice of you to finally join us."

His gem lit up again, as he glanced towards me. "We're heading back out to Meteor Meadow again today. We'll get some light practise in before lunch because I know for a fact that Luyo wants to work on her blades, so we may as well make a day trip of it." Saria stood up to her full height, moving into the kitchen and returning shortly after with her mouth stuffed full.

"I hope you don't have quite the same demonstration planned today as you did on Saturday." Syne spoke, as I watched him move into Saria's room. I quickly got up and followed him.

"And just what is that supposed to mean?"

Syne lifted up a dark brown bag from the floor, filling it with numerous objects from around the room with his Psychic. "You just had us worried when you passed out. We didn't know what was wrong, but thankfully there's a Pokémon Centre at the edge of the park."

"If you say so." Syne levitated the bag ahead of him as he walked past me back into the main room, Saria having finished her breakfast.

"Alrighty, now for the part everyone hates." She said quietly, taking the bag from Syne's aura and digging out two separate pokéballs. She pointed one ball towards Syne, it had a solid white underside, but the top half was a faded red, several other lines marked the top half, but I didn't get a good enough view before Syne had disappeared in the red energy cloud and drawn into the ball. Dropping it into her bag, Saria then held my pokéball. "See you soon."

"Oh grea-"

* * *

The world flashed brightly as I felt the liberating warmth from the sun high above, with the tickling grass underneath my paws. A slight breeze blew across my face as I opened my eyes, seeing the familiar sights of tall trees, sprawling grass meadows and numerous other pokémon running, singing or flying about the area.

"Now, Luyo, since there is a contest coming up a couple months from now, I think it would be a good time to show you how Syne makes his performance entrance." I turned around from the fields before me, Saria had her bag slung over one shoulder, with Syne's pokéball in hand. "So, come stand beside me, and you'll see what I mean."

I still hadn't agreed to take part in the contest with Syne, I strongly doubted my abilities when it came to giving a performance. But that didn't stop Syne insisting that I would do amazingly. Moving to Saria's side, I sat down, waiting to see what the fuss was about.

"Alright, you got this Syne! _Centre Stage!_ "

Saria tossed the pokéball up into the sky, the sheer number of spins the ball was performing made my dizzy. Just as the pokéball stalled mid-air, it opened, shooting Syne straight down to the ground, performing a flip as he gracefully landed on all fours. " _Espeon!_ " Syne almost shouted, his voice amplified somehow as several light shafts danced around him. The pokéball itself still floating above him, the line of red energy slowly fading as the light shafts faded entirely.

Syne stood tall and proud, the Espeon held his head high, his ears straight out, even the little tufts under his ears stood out wider than normal, while his tail stood tall almost on it's own, the split ends twitching in opposite directions. I wasn't sure how long he stood there, or how long I sat staring ay him. I heard Saria say something from above me, I didn't hear a word of it, but nodded slowly as I kept my eyes glued to the Espeon before me.

I knew I was staring at Syne, was that kind of entrance necessary? Absolutely not! But seeing him stand there, confident in his own abilities for the show to come gave me a sense that he _was_ completely in control. But was it effective? "Luyo?" I shook myself awake, noticing that Syne had moved uncomfortably close. "I take it you were looking at me again."

I turned away and shuffled back a half step, not wanting to make eye contact with him. "W- well, it's not like there's anything else to look at." I was lying to myself, and I knew it. But as I glanced back towards the Espeon, he was back to normal, his slightly unsure stance, ears twitching at every sound around us, and his tail simply hung there, twitching occasionally, but otherwise just a seemingly useless appendage to him.

"O- oh, of course." He simply responded. Turning to look at Saria in the process as his gem lit up the usual vibrant red.

I didn't want to admit it. But seeing Syne in complete control made him into a completely different pokémon. I heard Saria say a few things, and start walking off into the distance with Syne at her side, so I followed mutely behind, staying several paces behind the two.

It was an odd feeling, one I hadn't felt in such a long time. To want to follow another pokémon's word. It had to be part of his psychic typing, or some ability he possessed. There wasn't a single defining reason behind it, I just wanted to know how he changed so suddenly.

After passing through a collection of trees, the field once more opened up, but this time, it was for a different reason entirely. Sitting surrounded by several pokémon and who I assumed to be their select few trainers, was a massive, deeply malformed, rock.

"This is the titular _meteor_ that gave this place it's name. Or we named this place after the meteor, something like that." I heard Saria from above me as I worked my way towards the rock. Off to my left stood several pokémon. A Pawniard, Sandslash, and Charmeleon amongst others working on their various claws, blades or talons. While on my right a collection of humans stood under a shaded frame, several tall metal boxes making various noises all the while.

Approaching the rock, I scanned for certain grooves or overhangs I could use to make my life easier, thankfully not having to walk around the colossal boulder to find what I needed, swiftly working myself into the practised motions I had perfected many moons ago.

"How long do you think you'll be Luyo?" Saria asked from behind me, I turned around to see her sitting with Syne on a multi-coloured square cloth, not unlike the material of my own bed. "Is it alright if Syne and I practise without you?"

I shook my head twice. "I don't know. My blade hasn't grown too long, but it might take me a while to get used to these angles."

"That's alright, just keep an eye on my things here if you can." Saria stood up and turned away, moving back from the square she'd placed as Syne just sat still, staring back at me. I glanced at him before turning away and getting back to work on my blade, it wouldn't take me too long, thankfully I had plenty of room to move around and relocate, unlike other previous locations I'd used before. "Are you coming Syne or what?" I heard from behind me, obviously Syne wasn't paying attention again.

And just like that, my image of Syne standing tall, demanding all attention melted away as I glanced over and watched him dejectedly walking over to Saria. Who stood just inside earshot as I continued to sharpen my scythe.

"Alright, I have another idea for what you two can do when you perform together." I heard Saria say, a short pause followed before she continued. "Well, judging by how _you_ were staring makes me think it's a great idea.

"Syne, I had to call your name _three_ times, and you obviously didn't hear me until I shouted at you."

It was almost unnerving, hearing one side of a conversation that I probably shouldn't be listening to. "Well, how's this for an idea."

I tried to focus on listening to Saria, instead I just ended up pressing too hard into my blade. I dug my claws into the ground in frustration before sitting down and inspecting for damage.

Through more good luck than planning, I'd only filed down the rough without affecting the shape. I hadn't made a mistake like that filing my blades since my father used to watch.

"So how does that sound to you?" I heard Saria's voice loud and clear once more. I wish I knew what they had just talked about. "Excellent! Now, show me how your Attract looks!"

Attract? What _did_ those two talk about? I turned back to watch as Syne threw out the attack, a floating pink blob drifting through the air. I shook my head and went back to working on my blades, no doubt it was for the contest anyway.

* * *

"Alright, now. I know that you can split a Shadow Ball, but can you split the Attract." Both Syne and I stood facing each other, Saria slightly off to the side. "So, Syne, throw an Attract into the air and Luyo try and slice it with a Night Slash."

I had worked on my blade for almost an hour before Saria came over and dragged me away for some practise. I had at least managed to file down and sharpen my scythe with only a single interruption from a Sandslash I had spotted around the side of the meteor. And after a brief proposition, and immediate shutdown he slinked off to the rest of his friends, not wanting to test my threats of castration.

Not that he knew I wouldn't have actually done it.

I had started working on my tail when Saria called me over. I hadn't gotten much work done, but I'd at least filed it back into shape. Sharpening would have to wait until next time.

Watching as Syne flicked his head and threw out the attack, I charged a Night Slash into my blade. Out of the corner of my eye I could see the white glow of the attack, before I angled my blade and sent the cutting wave through the floating pink heart. Tearing through the offensively pink object, my attack continued on through the air as two halves of the deflated heart slowly fell to the ground like loose feathers from a flying type.

"Awesome! It's nice to know that these ideas will work." Saria said proudly, tapping her chin before continuing. "Ah! Luyo, can you make a Shadow Ball like last time? but hover it around where you hit Syne's Attract."

I nodded once, taking a deep breath while starting to feed energy into the dark sphere before me, making it just larger than my head, before slowly pushing it out towards Syne. "Just take it easy," I heard Saria say beside me. "We're only testing things. If you need to stop at any time, just say the word." I let out the breath I was holding and took another quick one, feeling the pull on my energy reserves moving the orb such a distance away from me. "Awesome, Syne, throw an Attract into the orb."

I watched as Syne threw the heart towards my Shadow Ball, feeling the energy of the Attract get almost immediately sucked into my attack, instantly doubling the strain on my energy as the black orb grew in size. Quickly throwing the orb into the sky as high as I could, starting to pant the moment I released the attack, watching the Shadow Ball fly into the sky, the vivid pink making the usually black orb give off deep red hues.

"Awww, why'd you do that Luyo? That actually looked really cool."

Opting to sit down as I tried to catch my breath, I looked up towards her. "That takes so much energy to maintain. I can't do that for too long unless you want a repeat of last practise."

Saria hummed in response. "Well, how was just holding the Shadow Ball itself then?"

"Manageable, but not something I could hold for a long time." I looked back towards the sky noticing the attack had completely left my vision. "I never knew just holding the attack could take so much effort."

"It's amazing what you're actually capable of." Syne answered this time. "I certainly wouldn't be able to create something like that if I knew Shadow Ball."

"The last test I want to try is if Syne throws an attract between you two like before, but you release a Shadow Ball into it." Syne immediately returned to his attack position, but I paused.

"What would that prove?" I asked.

"I'm trying to work out how each attack interacts with the other. Since Syne can't hold the Attract and build it up into a massively huge heart, I'm testing what can happen with the different stages of your Shadow Ball."

I simply stared at Saria in response.

"It's something that I saw at the Snowpoint Contest the other week. Different attacks take on different properties depending on when struck with other moves. Like just then, when you were holding the Shadow Ball, it absorbed the Attract and grew stronger, gaining the colours at the same time. Because the move is still being formed, so it's able to take on other moves as well. But, what I want to find out, is if you launch the attack, will it behave the same way?"

Sighing in response, I took several steps back and faced Syne. "If you say so."

"Well don't sound too excited then Luyo." Syne said across from me.

"Just use your move." I simply snapped back. Why would the attack act any differently? It's the same move, created the same way, with the same purpose, to cause some description of harm. Syne turned his head away, flicking it back towards me as he winked, a single heart shaped blob floated out towards me as last time. I charged up a Shadow Ball before me, putting a little extra frustration into it before slinging it at the stupid pink-

I was thrown to the ground as an explosion ripped past me. I shook my head twice as my ears rung from the sound. A small dust cloud settled between us as the grass appeared scorched under the impact zone.

Glancing to my right, I saw Saria shift on her back, rolling over before pushing herself into a seated position. Syne too, appearing unharmed from the blast.

Saria looked over to me, then back to Syne, rubbing her face with a hand as the other held her upright. "Great idea Saria. Stand right in-front of a potential explosion, that's a _great_ way to make you feel good in the afternoon."

Forcing myself into a standing position, I moved towards where Saria was, sitting beside her on the grass. Explosions in battle were an inevitability, but you expected them during a fight. Not from an Attract. I felt Saria's hand on my back and flinched, she didn't seem to notice though as her fingers struggled to part my fur. "Oh Luyo, you're going to need a bath when we get home."

I heard Syne groan before he stood up opposite Saria. "What's a bath?" I asked, enjoying the feeling of Saria's attention across my back.

Syne moved towards us, taking a seat before Saria. "She's saying that you're dirty."

"You too mister." Saria reached forward with her other hand, almost mashing her hand into Syne's forehead. "Guess what we're doing when we get home."

"Oh goody." Syne monotoned. Taking a step back out of reach of Saria, his gem glowing as he frowned.

"Nope, it's been more than a month. You're due for a bath." Saria pushed herself upright and walked over to the square cloth she placed earlier, us two pokémon taking a seat as she packed everything away. "I don't want to hear it Syne, by the end of today, I'll have cleaned you one way or another. I'm sure Luyo won't complain as much as you do."

Syne immediately turned to face me. "Do you like water Luyo?"

"What do you mean?"

"Do you like being wet, head to tail?"

I tilted my head slightly. "You mean, swimming?"

"No, like, standing in a small enclosed room, unable to even turn around, covered in-"

"Syne, I don't want you lying to Luyo. I'm sure she'd relish the chance to have her coat sparkling clean." Saria was staring daggers at Syne as she fed the now folded cloth into her bag, digging out our pokéballs in the process. "Now let's get going, Lisa said she'll have a special treat for you two tonight if you're good."

I wanted to question Syne further on this 'bath' thing. But he was quickly engulfed in the red haze and returned to his ball. Saria sighed softly before pointing mine at me. "See you soon."

* * *

And this is what happens when life says "no" to any free time you thought you had.

Sorry about the delays, and hopefully the next one won't take as long, but at least this one was a longer chapter than the norm.

But, at least it's here, so... Yay?

Again, hope it won't take as long to write the next chapter, but by my estimates, we're breaching the halfway point in terms of story length, but I'm pretty sure I know where I want things to go from here.

Anyway, let us know how you found this chapter, we'll get another thing quite soon.


	10. Fighting Surprise

**Fighting Surprise**

It didn't take long to arrive home. Or at least it didn't feel like a long time, being cooped up in a ball was never my idea of fun, so I just enjoyed the rest for what it was. Some time alone to nothing but my thoughts.

It was still such a strange sensation to me, I could hear everything that was happening outside the ball if I wished to, but getting in a quick nap seemed effortless considering the amount of noise around the city. I had no idea how they worked, but if I wanted a moment alone, and could deal with the constant inward pressure, I could certainly think of worse punishments than being left in my ball.

Standing in the very white room attached Saria's bedroom for the first time was strange. The light didn't have the sun's usual yellow glow, instead being a clean, plain white, reflected off every surface to make almost anything blinding to look at. I stood on a small brown cloth square, with enough room for me to sit down on anyway, since the white stone floor was cold to the touch. Syne stood scowling in a deep white rectangular dish, and Saria was on her knees beside him outside of it.

"Calm down Syne, I would've thought you'd be used to these by now."

His gem was almost brighter than the light above me the whole time. "Yes, I know you don't like it. But after how many years wouldn't you remember the benefits?" Saria reached over to her right, picking up a shiny metal handle, while turning a few other metal pieces attached to the wall. "Do you want me to make the water too hot again? Or will you just be quiet for a moment so we can get this over and done with."

Water shot out of the handle, Saria held it up to her other hand for a moment before further adjusting the fixtures on the wall. "Alright, is this too hot for you Syne?" She reached a hand out as Syne placed a foreleg into it, a defeated expression on his face as his gem glowed once more. "Excellent, now be still and this will be done so much faster."

With practised excellence, Saria was a flurry of motion. Drawing the water spout back and forth over Syne's body, being careful to fold his ears out of the way as she worked him over. Once he was thoroughly drenched, she took a large bottle from the side and covered Syne in a strange cream, before hanging the water spout off to the side and rubbing the cream all over him.

"You don't have to stare you know." Syne was glaring at me over Saria's shoulder as she worked. To say he looked ridiculous would be an understatement, his fur was matted in every direction imaginable, with no single pattern or distinction. I chose to ignore Syne's frustrated tone, instead focusing on Saria's movements. She was currently working both hands around Syne's midsection, one along his back while the other worked across his chest and stomach. Saria slowly shuffled along the rest of Syne's body, doing both his hind legs and finishing the full-body rub with his tail, which wanted nothing more than to be free of her ministrations.

Once Saria was finished with Syne's tail, she reached back over for the water and followed the same procedure from the beginning, washing back and forth across his back, using her free hand to wipe away any of the remaining goo that clung to Syne's coat.

"There, all done. Was that so hard?" Saria asked, making sure Syne heard her sarcasm. Syne simply glared at Saria, his gem glowed for a moment before he shook himself off, causing Saria to squeal in terror and fall backwards, giving Syne enough room to jump out of the tub and sit on the second brown cloth square beside me. "Syne! How many times have I told you not to-" Saria simply growled under her breath, reaching for another larger cloth and throwing it at the psychic type, who caught it with his powers. "You can dry yourself then, since I'll have to clean this whole room now." She motioned me towards the tub. "Come on Luyo, your turn."

I stood up and slowly walked to the edge of the box, spotting a rainbow mesh on the floor of the tub I simply stepped into the enclosure, silently thanking Saria for not saying anything as I made my own pace. The moment my forepaw touched the bottom I felt the cool leftover water from Syne, the dirt from his coat staining the water.

"So, I take it that you're not afraid of water." Saria said straight to me, having recovered from her fall earlier. "Now, you saw how I washed Syne, and since you're a little bigger than him I'll try to keep this as quick as I can." I watched Saria reach up towards my face. "I'll do everything I can to avoid touching your blades Luyo, know that if I do it's an accident and I'll try not to." I felt her hand against my head, parting the fur near the base of my blade, but never actually touching it. "So, let me adjust the water, and tell me if it's too hot for you."

I watched as Saria grabbed the handle again and turned the metal spokes on the wall, starting the flow of water. "If you want me to stop, just say something and I'll avoid that area." I glanced at Saria as she gave me a knowing look, I simply nodded once, lifting my foreleg into her open palm, feeling the rush of warm water across my paw. "Is that alright?" I nodded slowly as Saria released my foreleg. Not a moment later, Saria had directed the water over the back of my neck, my fur turning into a stone weight as it collected the water. I felt her free hand tousle the fur across my back and sides, acting as if on it's own until it could glide cleanly across my skin.

Not a moment later was the water put aside as I watched Saria reach for the same bottle as before. "Now, this will feel a little cold, but trust me when I say you'll see and feel the difference." Saria was right about one thing, the strange cream goo was cold. As it was spread across my back I felt a shudder run along my spine. Her two hands then began working over my back and sides.

I wasn't sure why Syne hated these so much. The water was warm, although I felt a little cold as it had settled into my fur. Saria didn't seem to miss a spot across my back, any itch I had felt, wanting to clean my coat myself was removed with each glide of Saria's hands. I noticed her spending quite a bit of extra time on the thick fur on the underside of my neck, I relaxed as I felt her take the weight of the fur in both hands, taking the strain away from me anyway.

"Wow Luyo, how can you manage to hold this much fur all the time? I'm sure I'd have no problems carrying you without all of this added weight."

I noticed Syne's gem glow out of the corner of my eye, causing Saria to whip her head around and shout at the Espeon. "No Syne, I am _not_ calling Luyo fat. I don't see you trying to pick her up." Syne flung the cloth Saria had thrown at him earlier onto the floor, before storming out of the room without a word, although his gem stayed bright red the entire time. Saria shook her head and sighed before returning her attention back to me. "Boys…"

I felt her hands start working around my midsection, starting between my forelegs and slowly working down my body. I felt her hands linger a little longer around my stomach before moving to my flanks, and rubbing down the outsides of my hind legs. "You know, Luyo. in a couple months it'll be pokémon mating season, and I wanted to ask you, without going through Syne, if you want me to get something to suppress it like Mark does for Rathe."

Not sure how to answer her question, I simply shuffled my hind legs, they were getting stiff standing stock still the entire time anyway. "I don't know why I expected an answer from you right away." I felt Saria start working her way back up the inside of my hind legs. "It's just something to think about, in case, you know, you and Syne-" Saria paused and immediately pulled her hands away, having worked her way to my tail and slid her hand along the top of the blade. "Oh, sorry Luyo. I know… that… You didn't flinch when I touched your tail."

I glanced back at Saria, not caring either way that she'd touched the top side of my currently blunt blade. I'd have to inform her later that only the blade on my head was sensitive. Shaking herself back to reality, Saria reached for the water and started washing the grime away from my fur. Looking down, I could tell from the sheer amount of brown bubbly liquid that I had accumulated quite a bit of dirt after the week-and-a-half I had gone without going for a swim. Although I had to admit, this was a much better way to get clean.

"Alright, we're done. If you'd like to step out onto this towel here." Saria pointed to the cloth she was kneeling on earlier, as I moved out of the enclosure, I quickly felt the warmth of the water being sapped away before I was engulfed in another piece of material. Saria's hands once more covering every inch of my form, the weight of my fur dropping drastically with each pass. "I don't know about you, but I think you look better already."

After several minutes of Saria rubbing away the water, I was free to step out of the cloth and quickly gave myself a once over, inspecting my now clean fur, and the results almost made me double take. My fur wasn't just white, it shined in the light like I hadn't seen it ever do before.

"I'll run a brush through it later if you want me to, but otherwise you look so soft." I turned back to Saria, who had pulled her top piece of clothing off and took a half step towards me, her skin was much paler in this light, but her stomach was reflectively so. "Now it's my turn, so go on, I'll be out in a few minutes. I've got to clean Syne's mess first, but I'll brush you off after this." I stepped out into Saria's room as she slid the door closed behind me. I jumped up onto Saria's bed and started grooming myself, drying out the rest of my fur while aligning it back in one direction again.

* * *

I lay in the cushioned pit central to the home, Saria slowly running a brush through the hard-to-reach fur on my back. Syne sat in the kitchen, throwing the occasional dirty look at Saria as he helped Lisa prepare the evening meal. He might've complained about being forced into being clean by Saria, but I certainly couldn't argue with the results. Syne looked _flawless_. His fur, although not any more vibrant in colour than before, had a sheen unlike I'd ever seen on him before. Even his tail looked like his fur was actually white because of how the light caught in his fur. A dull chatter echoed throughout the room, outlining events around the region as Saria and Lisa talked amongst themselves about topics I had no interest in.

Having Mark and his pokémon out of the house made the entire place too quiet to truly enjoy. Although I could probably draw Syne's attention away from helping with just a word, without being able to watch Rathe practice her moves, or listen to Blossom sing to Flitter off in the corner, it was boring.

Well, besides the feeling of the brush through my fur. _That_ was still amazing.

Letting my head relax onto the ground, I closed my eyes and sighed. What surprised me further was that Kein still remained in Lisa's room. Or at least I guessed that was where he was. I didn't know if it was to avoid everyone altogether, or if Lisa just left him in his ball all day, only letting him come out at night because he preferred the silence of evenings over the hustle of daylight. I'd have to ask him next time I stayed up overnight.

"Luyo, did you even hear me?" I opened my eyes to see Saria beside me, kneeling as she had been the whole time she was brushing me. I yawned and looked back at Saria, shaking my head slightly to rouse myself. "I'll take that as a no…" Saria opened her palm to reveal the stone Lisa had given her the other day. "What I asked was: Would you like me to try finish your tail?"

I glanced back at my tail, while I had managed to get it back into shape, sharpening it would've taken more time than Saria had allowed me. Considering her proposal, I didn't know what would be better for her to have her first attempt at. My tail, which got the least use in battle, not that I would be taking part in that anytime soon, if at all, but was my _tail_ , and no-one had ever been that close to that part of me before. Or my scythe, which had the most use in any situation, and was already sharp enough to cut through Lairon hide.

"It's alright Luyo, I understand why you don't want me to, we'll just make our visits to the park every fortnight."

I watched as Saria pushed herself upright and turned away before I took a deep breath and possibly made the worst decision of my life. "Syne?" I said quietly, causing Saria to pause her movements as I looked over to the Espeon in the kitchen. "Can you talk to Saria for me for a moment?"

"Sure." I heard from him in a slightly rougher tone than I was used to, probably still angry about the bath. "Go ahead."

I turned back to Saria. "Not yet. Next time they need filing, I'll let you work them down, but I still want to sharpen them myself to begin with."

She simply turned around and smiled, before nodding. "It's a deal."

"Good, now if you are quite done grooming her, dinner's ready." Lisa spoke, causing Saria to almost squeal in delight before collecting two food bowls from the kitchen and placing them beside each other for Syne and I.

"Hope you two enjoy this, a special treat while the others are away." I took in a deep breath, picking up certain spicy berries, but a more earthy aroma I couldn't quite place.

"It's Tauros." Syne said from beside me, quickly devouring a singular morsel of his own food.

"What?"

"The meat in yours, it's Tauros."

I stepped towards Syne's bowl, taking a quick sniff of his food to try and find similarities, but quickly recoiled at the overly sweet assault on my senses. "How can you eat _that_?"

"I could say the same for yours, much too spicy. But I don't eat meat either."

"You… Don't?"

"I could, and I did before, as an Eevee, but once I could feel every pokémon's minds around me as an Espeon, I refused to eat them again." Syne wasn't his usual fidgety self, his tail lay still behind him, his ears were relaxed, and his eyes were open, but, actually able to look at me for longer than two seconds at a time.

"Feel pokémon's minds? What, so you can tell what I'm thinking?"

Syne wilted for a moment, before shuffling a half-step backwards. "W-well, no. Not exactly." There was the Syne I knew. "Because of your natural resistance to psychic powers the only chance I'd get would be if you were asleep. But you'd know if I did because you would physically feel me there."

"And what about telepathy? Can you just not use that to talk to me?"

Syne opened his mouth for a moment, before closing both it and his eyes, the gem on his forehead glowing brightly once more. I felt a tug on the back of my mind, it wasn't unpleasant in any sense, but it felt like a Caterpie had latched onto my brain. _I do think this is more an invasion of privacy though._ I heard Syne's voice echo in my head, and not a moment after he was finished the sensation left entirely. "But it takes less effort to talk normally to you anyway."

"Because of my resistance to your typing." Syne simply nodded at my response. "Well, it wasn't an entirely unpleasant feeling."

"But you didn't like it either, I can tell from your face." I scowled at Syne for a moment, before returning my attention to the untouched bowl of food before me. "But yes, Lisa normally doesn't have time to customise our food when there are seven of us to cater for."

I watched as Syne dug into his food, a soft moan of delight doing nothing to stop his ravenous eating. I felt my stomach growl as I took in another waft of the delightful scent, wasting no time before digging into my own meal.

A shrill chime pierced my ears as I saw Saria stand up and hold a small object up to the side of her head. "Hey Mark, how's it going?"

"Kids and their phones these days…" Lisa grumbled from the table. "Can't have a moment without them, could we."

Saria flicked her hand a few times at Lisa before taking a step towards the window. "You won? Oh that's great news! Congratulations! So where are you heading after-" She paused for a moment. "Wait, Maylene? But last time you battled her it wasn't even close.

"Well, yeah, it has been a few months… But have you really gotten that much stronger?

"Woah woah, hold up a sec… Are you insane? But she's a dark-

"Promise you what?" Saria paused for a moment. "Alright, fine, I promise I won't tell her.

"A what? But they only discovered those in Hoenn a couple years ago." Saria paced back and forth before the window, constantly re-adjusting her hair. "Alright, alright… I'll ask-

"I already promised you once, geeze…" Saria sighed and then turned to me. "Luyo, would you take part in a gym battle for Mark?"

I glanced back to Syne, who was staring at me in disbelief. "Why?"

Saria sighed. "I can't tell you _why_. But what I can tell you is that Maylene leads the fighting type gym and it's a twenty minute walk from here. So you don't even have to spend a night away from home."

I wasn't stupid, I knew that fighting types would hurt a lot. I'd learned that the hard way against the many Machoke that took shelter within the caves of Mount Coronet, but to take part in a gym battle? I gained a sly smirk at the possibility. "When is the battle?"

* * *

Hey, look...

Turns out, I'm not dead!

HUZZAH!

(relatively)

You can thank one particular user for this chapter, he (she?) knows who they are, so, yeah... *Thanks*

But here's Ch.9, I'm not sure if anyone is still out there reading this... But... Well, enjoy!

ETA for the next chapter?

Who knows... I'll work it out later


	11. Gym Challenge (Part One)

**Gym Challenge (Part One)**

"You can't take part in a gym battle!" Syne was pacing back and forth before me. I was grooming myself on my bed, as the Espeon danced in and out of view while walking up on Saria's. " _Especially_ against _fighting_ types! You won't even stand a chance! You didn't see what her Lucario did to Zephyr last time Mark challenged her."

"So?" I responded simply, continuing my string of one-word answers.

"So? _So!?_ It'd be like me challenging _you_ to a fight Luyo. Do you know how well _that_ would go?" As if to punctuate his statement, I felt a light tickle from his Psychic trying to move one of my hind legs. "I can't even move you with my strongest attack! What would make you fighting Maylene any different?"

"You're not a fighter." I continued working on my right foreleg to clean my face from dinner.

"I don't have to be a fighter to know how strong a type advantage is." Syne jumped down from Saria's bed, opting to be at my eye level. "Please reconsider the battle Luyo. It was hard enough the first time, and I don't want to watch it happen to you."

"But I won't lose."

Syne scoffed and headed out towards the main room. "Oh, that makes me feel _much_ better! _I won't lose._ Spoken like a true prophet Luyo. If only I could be that confident when it comes to every performance I take part in." He took another few steps before passing the threshold. "I hope you change your mind before the battle Luyo. Because I'll get no pleasure saying 'I told you so' afterwards."

I didn't respond, continuing my routine, moving on to my left foreleg before hearing Syne sigh heavily and leave me alone.

I was sure that I'd told him before how I'd had to fight off Machoke on Mount Coronet. Sure, being hit with a Karate Chop was painful, Cross Chop was worse. But it wasn't ever enough to take me down. I thought back to one particular trainer, who sent their Mienshao after me. By sheer luck I managed to avoid her High Jump Kick, giving me an opening to flee. It took me almost a week to be able to move freely around the mountainside after _that_ battle.

My fur bristled at the memory, surely revealing some physical marks left behind from countless other encounters I couldn't stay on top of. Never my proudest moments, but it's usually hard to win a battle when it's up to six-versus-one. Thankfully the snow was always there to cover my escape when I needed it.

Yet it had always amazed me how long I'd managed to go without being captured by trainers. And to think, the two times I had managed to be captured were by my own mistakes. I finished wiping away the remnants of dinner, deciding whether or not I wanted to head back out into the main room. All I'd do is walk into Syne again, and he seemed adamant to try and talk me out of fighting against this gym leader.

In the end, I didn't want to listen to Syne tell me it's a bad idea, or Saria talking to Syne about how it's my decision. I still have no idea why Mark wanted me to partake, but I wasn't going to turn down the opportunity if it was the last battle I took part in.

* * *

"And that should be everything!" Mark stood up from his kneeling position, hoisting his bag up over one shoulder after fishing out the four pokéballs needed for each of his gathered companions. "Are you sure you don't want to fight this time Zephyr?" The Pidgeot ruffled his feathers, turning away slightly at the question.

"I will not. Fighting that Lucario last time made me feel that I would lose a wing!" Syne's crimson glow immediately drawing attention from the corner of my eye. "No sooner would I rather be plucked bald!"

"Alright, alright. I get it. Do you want to stay here then? Or are you going to come cheer us on?" Zephyr didn't say a word, opting to fly back to his perch outside the main window, taking off into the city sky. "I'll take that as a 'no' then."

"You really should train your pokémon to obey you better Mark." Saria chimed in, with the biggest grin I'd ever seen on her.

"Shut up Saria. Zephyr does obey me. He just had it hard last time I fought Maylene, and Byron put him through the ringer. I'm happy to let him take some time off so long as Luyo is still up for the challenge." He looked at me before kneeling down to my height. "So, can I count on you, Rathe and Blossom to bring home the Cobble badge?"

"Hey, why aren't you picking me?" Flitter interposed himself between Mark and I. "I reckon if I give 'er the good 'ol One-Two Silver Wind punch I could- mmrrhfflle mmmhmm.." I heard his muffled voice try to fight through Blossom's vines with little success.

"I can assure you, we'll do our best to-"

"Give 'em a beating." Rathe finished for Blossom, earning a slight scowl but a nod in affirmation.

"Just what I like to hear!" Mark returned to his regular height. "Oh, I almost forgot, Blossom, I want you to take this." After digging in his pocket, he produced a small green gem which the Roserade took in her vines, burying it amongst one of her bouquets. "And Luyo, I want you to wear this." Reaching behind into his bag, Mark pulled out a small translucent sphere, with colourings not unlike my own. A twisted blend of blue, white and grey flickering through the middle, slightly smaller than my forepaw attached to a looped material. He held it out with both hands, before turning away and passing it to Saria. With a slight chuckle, he continued. "Can you put this on Luyo for me? I don't know if she'll let me."

Saria snatched the object from Mark. "How do you expect to control her in battle if you don't even want to go near her?" Kneeling down before me, guiding the stone to rest on the front of my chest. I shook myself slightly, barely noticing the new addition.

"Hey, I've spent time with her, and I know what moves she knows from the Pokédex."

"That doesn't mean she'll obey you or that you know how to use her moves properly."

"Hey, I have six badges. There's no reason why she wouldn't obey me! Besides, you don't have any and she listens to you perfectly fine."

"Yeah, that's because I saved her life… Maybe?" Saria glanced back towards me, ruffling the fur on the top of my head. "Honestly, I don't know why you listen to me. But I hope you at least try to follow Mark's lead in this battle. He might be a bit of a goof-"

"Hey!"

"But he knows his way around a gym battle. So, just do your best and I'll be proud of you." Saria smiled warmly before turning away and heading towards the door, holding it open. "But that's enough sentiment, you're going to miss your appointment if we wait any longer."

Mark almost leaped into the air at that. "Oh crap! You're right! Everyone, return!" A swift round of red flashes later and I was standing with Syne as the only Pokémon still around, before I was swiftly embraced by the red energy too.

* * *

If there was one thing that the human structures had in common, was that they were either brightly coloured, or excessively reflective. But from the initial impression of the Veilstone city gym, that most certainly was not a rule every structure followed. The drab red-brown walls had no life amongst the brightly coloured city, three plain white symbols the only thing breaking apart the solid coloured walls. Even the top was a plain dirt-brown colour, with nothing more to distinguish itself other than how plain it was amongst every other building in the area besides having its own personal hill.

"Well, this is it." Mark said to his gathered pokémon. Zephyr too having joined us, no doubt enjoying his freedom to explore the skies while he could. "This'll be badge number seven guys. Now, I know it didn't go well last time, but we now have both Rathe and Luyo to battle alongside. Blossom, I'll let you take the lead as you did well versus her Machoke last time, and Rathe I'll put you in second to bring us home."

"Wait, so you mean to tell me you're going to put Luyo against her Lucario?" Saria swiftly jumped in.

"Only if I have to. Blossom beat Maylene's Machoke when she was only a Roselia. Now, he's got no chance. Which already puts us at an advantage against her Meditite and Lucario."

"Still, are you sure that's the bests idea?"

"Hey, don't worry, we've got this.. Right team?" A swift round of affirmations did little to dissuade Saria's questioning glance. "See? We'll be fine, and that's not even using the trump card."

"Yeah, you still haven't even told me _how_ you got that stone."

"Oh, that's easy. We did some training off on Iron Island and some of the workers there challenged us to a battle. They didn't have any money on them but they'd just finished excavating an underwater cavern where they found them."

"Wait, underwater? I wonder how they got down there."

"I dunno… Some scientist guy said that it was possible when Kyogre and Groudon were fighting the island itself was swept away from Hoenn. Another claimed that Dialga and Palkia witnessed that fight, and before Rayquaza could arrive they worked together, effectively creating Sinnoh from the remains of the broken Hoenn."

"So, nobody knows." Saria stated flatly.

"Nope."

"And now you have one."

"Yep." Mark simply shrugged before standing tall and walking up the steps to the building.

I started the climb with the others, following Mark up to the gym. _Are you sure you want to do this?_ I heard Syne chime into the back of my mind. I glanced back to see him still sitting on the ground level, his ears down and eyes sullen, but focused. His ruby barely glowing in the midday sunlight. _I- I just don't want to see you get hurt._

The others, entirely oblivious to the exchange continued up the steps, leaving us practically alone at the bottom. "Is that what you're afraid of? That I'll get hurt?" Syne only shook his head slowly in response. "Then why is me battling such a bad thing? I used to get hurt all the time, I had to battle to keep my home often enough that I may have more scars than strands of fur. Will I get hurt in this battle? Probably. But will that stop me?

"No. And why should it? If I was afraid of getting hurt then I wouldn't be here today, I wouldn't have survived as long as I have if I never took a chance that could hurt me." I moved to beside Syne, nudging his shoulder. Taking a deep breath, I calmed myself.

Instinct told me that this kind of weakness was unacceptable, that if I had followed his advice in any other situation I would've starved or worse years ago. But he's from a different world, and trying to explain my side simply wouldn't work this time.

And striking him would only make the situation worse.

"W- what if…" I took a step back looking straight at him. "What if I said that I'd be careful?"

"You'd… What?"

"Well, I'm not going to change your mind about battling. And you're not going to stop me from taking part. So…" I sighed again, taking a moment. "So I'll take it slow, I won't rush into the fight, I'll.. I'll sta-"

"Hey! Are you two coming or what?" I heard Saria shout from behind me, whipping around I saw the others standing at the top of the hill. Before Syne stepped up beside me.

"Just be careful, alright?" He said quickly, bounding away up to the others.

I just shook my head in confusion. What was that about? Was he just saying those things about battling to make me feel bad? Why did it affect me in such a way anyway? I slowly made my way up, putting those questions away for later. "You having second thoughts?" Mark quickly asked as I rejoined the group.

"No." I growled, baring my fangs slightly and feeling the hard stone below as I tensed my paws. Throwing a quick glance to Syne who was lost in conversation with Saria, his joyous demeanour returned in an instant.

Not wanting to be the centre of attention, I pushed forward towards the transparent entryway, wanting nothing more than to relieve some tension.

As the others filed in behind me, Mark headed further in towards a table with two different people behind it. To my left and right were identical sets of objects. Raised square platforms with spaced barriers there to seemingly _not_ stop anyone from entering or exiting as an extensive array of fighting types took turns striking each other's hands as an overzealous human shouted words of encouragement or disdain at each action.

Towards the back of the room were both pokémon and humans seemingly running in place, as Tyrogue and Meditite filtered back and forth carrying the same size cloths Saria used after my bath. One pokémon in particular caught my attention above the others, a Heracross over to my right, doing the simple action of lifting a solid bar with circular ends off the ground. With each motion of lifting his legs and arms shook with effort. But as the weight was lowered back down I could feel the ground shake as the bar seemingly jumped from the impact.

"Okay, our battle is in ring one in ten minutes. This is it guys, a victory here and we can almost taste the Sinnoh League!"

"This way please." A different came from behind me, another female human dressed in what I was informed was 'workout' clothes.

Moving through the doors at the back of the main room, we entered a long corridor with, from what I could see, a single large door on each side. Moving through the right door, we entered a room not too dissimilar from the main room. Only instead of multiple raised squares there was a single rectangular platform extending across almost the entire room. With hundreds of metal seats placed in rows on the far side from where we entered.

"Maylene shouldn't be too long. Feel free to use whatever space you need before the battle. But only the pokémon taking part in the battle can go into the ring. The others will have to take seats up in the grandstand."

"Alright, you heard the boss." The female laughed as she left us in the room. "Rathe, Blossom, Luyo, do any warm-ups you think you need." I watched as Zephyr took off into the air, floating gracefully over to the grandstand and perching on a metal rail. Syne snatching the jabbering Flitter out of the air and pulling him along much to his protest.

Blossom and Rathe followed closely behind Mark as he stepped up onto the platform, Rathe finding her own place on the corner of the arena to quietly meditate as Blossom quietly practiced her singing. Such an odd routine before a battle, but I wasn't going to question them if it bore results. I simply walked into the centre of the arena, finding a full circle drawn, split in half to divide the ring evenly. Taking a few steps back, I bounded forward, easily jumping from one side of the circle to the other, landing easily on my forelegs, before digging my claws in and swinging the rest of my body around.

I continued to hop back and forth, diving both left and right. Practising to roll of my shoulder as I knew Fighting types liked to physically throw their opponents. But before long, several metallic snaps later and another door opened on the opposite side of the room, revealing a young girl with bright pink hair and some kind of patch over her nose.

"Alright, let's get this over with. Which badge number is this for you?"

Mark moved up to where I was standing in the middle. "Uhh, this'll be my seventh badge."

"Uh huh, good for you…" I watched as she moved off to the side, interacting with several different bright panels on the wall. "Three on three sound good?" She asked, as I watched her shove a single pokéball into each pocket.

"Sounds good to me." Mark replied, waiting on our side of the room until Maylene met us in the centre.

"Excellent." She dug a little square box out of her pocket, opening another side door by pointing at it as a single human wearing black and white stripes took position on the side of the arena. "Let's start this battle, I'm delaying my midday workout for this."

I followed Mark as he turned away, moving off the side of the arena and sitting down on a separate little platform, high enough so I could keep level with the battle. "The following is a fair and legal challenge for the Cobble badge. This will be a three versus three battle, when all pokémon of either combatant cannot continue they lose the match. Do both trainers willingly obey the rules set out by the Sinnoh league council and agree to the other preceding terms?"

"Sure do." Mark nodded confidently.

"Yeah, yeah…" Maylene replied.

"Then I declare this gym battle open! Maylene, choose your first-"

"Go Hariyama!"

"Oh, I like 'dis. Who've're go' fo' meh?" The hulking pokémon almost shouted. Mark recoiling slightly at its appearance.

"Wait, Hariyama? What happened to your Machoke?"

"What? You think I only have three pokémon? You said this was for your seventh badge, did you think I would just keep using the same pokémon as if this were your fourth? Fat chance. Now, pick your first!"

" _I'm sorry._ " I heard Mark whisper, barely above the guttural shouts of the Hariyama growing impatient. "Blossom, this is it!"

Opting to simply walk into the arena, Blossom looked anything but confident. Taking a deep breath, she blew out a thin aroma well above the room.

"Both pokémon have entered the arena, this first round is between gym leader Maylene's Hariyama, and the challenger's Roserade. Ready? Begin!" The announcer shouted, causing almost an almost instant reaction to the Hariyama.

"Blossom, use Energy Ball!"

"Hariyama, Arm Thrust!" Before Blossom had the chance to start channeling her power, Hariyama was on her, battering the grass type with a flurry of palm strikes. "And Vital Throw!" After the fourth jab, Hariyama grabbed Blossom and simply hurled her across to Maylene's side of the arena. Blossom lay still for a moment, before forcing herself upright, a pained scowl upon her features. "Wow, she's still up. And here I thought Hariyama wasn't going to get to have any real fun." Maylene mocked.

Mark growled under his breath. "We're not done yet! Blossom, Petal Dance!"

"Oh, this'll be fun." Blossom thrust both bouquets into the air, releasing a perpetual blizzard of flower petals, leaves and thorns. Her singing voice adding to the ominous growing storm of flora.

"Hariyama, you can take it. Then show her what a _real_ dance involves. _Submission._ "

Blossom was completely lost to me inside the swirling mass of multicoloured flowers as it slowly engulfed the heavy fighting type. Unflinching even as the attack left countless small cuts on him.

The storm continued to swirl for several seconds, before a blast from inside the storm had both Blossom and Hariyama rolling head over foot around the arena, venomous shouting from the Hariyama, and silence from Blossom as he finally threw the Roserade back into Mark's half of the arena, unmoving.

"Roserade is unable to battle, Maylene wins round one!"

"Blossom! No!" Mark shouted, swiftly recalling her into her pokéball. "I'll have you healed up, real soon." He spoke softly, before placing the ball inside his bag. "Hey, that's almost against rule 5!"

"Pfft, your _precious_ grass type will be fine. Now, do you have a real challenge for my Hariyama or not?"

"Alright, that's it. Rathe, take him down."

 _Do you see how dangerous it is now?_ I heard Syne in the back of my mind. _It's not too late to reconsider._

I shook my head, watching as Rathe climbed her way into the arena. Using her bone club as an aid, before stopping in the centre of our side. Twirling her bone thrice before taking a ready stance.

"The challenger's second pokémon is Marowak. Can Hariyama still continue?"

"Ooohh yeh, bu' wha' hope 'he got? She'cn hardly walk!"

"Ready? Begin!"

"Alright Hariyama, same again, once more. Arm Thrust!"

"Double-Edge, Rathe! Make him feel it!"

As Hariyama charged forward, Rathe leapt into action, throwing herself recklessly into his waiting arms, only for the Hariyama to be thrown backwards with twice the force, flying off the platform and into the grandstand, broken chairs in his wake.

"Hariyama is unable to battle and forced out of bounds, Marowak wins round two!"

"Alright, alright… You might have some fight in you. Come on back Hariyama… Double workouts for you next week." Maylene dug a hand into her pocket, pulling out a blue pokéball. "Alright then, let's see how you handle this one. Go Conkeldurr!"

Not a moment later, a slightly smaller fighting type stood in the arena, smashing two massive stone columns together, one in each hand. "Heh heh… You wan' me to smash little groundie?" The stupid grin on the Conkeldurr's face more than enough to infuriate me already.

"Yep, just don't waste too much energy, he's still got another pokémon after that."

"Okie, lemme smush the groundie!"

"Maylene's second pokémon is Conkeldurr, is the challenger's Marowak fit to continue?" Rathe simply nodded, going back into her readied stance, her bone raised high behind her. "Round three is Conkeldurr versus Marowak! Ready? Begin!"

"Rathe, use Bonemerang!"

"Just beat it away."

Rathe, with a deadly flourish, threw her bone towards the fighting type, wasting no time as it flew in an arc towards his left shoulder. Only to be knocked out of the air by the stone pillars, falling uselessly to the ground outside the arena. "Oopsie, hope yous didn't needs that." The Conkeldurr chuckled. "'Cause now Imma squish you."

"Nicely done, now use Hammer Arm!"

"You still got this Rathe, Stomping Tantrum!" As if fueled by a hidden fire, Rathe's eyes started glowing brighter than Syne's ruby. By stomping in place, Rathe started building up a dust storm, obscuring her entire form except for the glowing eyes, before launching herself at the Conkeldurr.

As the columns wielded by the brute swung downward, Rathe met them head on, not caring about her own safety in the slightest. A thunderclap wracked the arena, leaving nothing but a cloud of dust obscuring the whole room.

"Rathe! No!" Mark shouted, joining us to wait and see what the aftermath was.

I saw the Conkeldurr standing tall in the centre of the arena, his two columns seemingly shattered to join the leftover petals from Blossom's original attack. But in the Conkeldurr's celebration chants of 'squishing the groundie' Rathe was on one knee behind him.

"Go Rathe! Double-Edge!" Mark shouted upon seeing her still able to fight.

"Huh? What? Groundi-" The Conkeldurr was blindsided, Rathe's shoulder tackle collecting him straight in the jaw, twisting the muscular pokémon around on the spot, before he collapsed in a heap in the centre of the arena. Rathe rolling to a stop on Mark's side of the field. Falling to both knees and panting heavily. How she was still standing impressed me to no end, but it was clear that she was completely spent.

"Conkeldurr is unable to continue, Marowak wins round three!"

"Alright! Great job Rathe. One more to go!" Mark celebrated, either completely oblivious to his pokémon's clear struggle to stand up, or wanting to give her as much encouragement as possible.

Maylene hummed. "Alright, I'll give it to you. That Marowak is super strong. But I bet Lucario will take care of her in one hit. Let's do it!"

In a single flash, the passed-out Conkeldurr was removed from the arena, replaced with a lithe blue Lucario. Their eyes glowing a brilliant sapphire blue as Rathe struggled back to her feet.

"Gym leader Maylene's third and final pokémon is Lucario! Is Marowak able to continue?"

Rathe swayed on her feet, opting to leave one hand on the ground as she tried to slow her laboured breathing. "Yes!" Rathe shouted back.

"Round four is Lucario versus Marowak! Ready? Begin!"

"Alright Rathe, one more time! Double-Edge!"

Forcing herself to a running stance, Rathe shouted in both pain and determination as she flung herself towards the Lucario, who simply waited until the last moment to sidestep out of the way.

"That's alright, you've got this Rathe! Again!"

Almost out of instinct, after missing her first attack, Rathe dug her feet into the ground, flinging herself back towards the Lucario, who continued to just side-step every attack, a sad look in her eyes, as they never seemed to lose their sapphire lustre.

After Lucario dodged her fifth charge, Rathe stopped her laboured onslaught. "Why won't you strike me?"

"Because you're in no condition to fight." The Lucario spoke, her voice soft, calm and balanced. "I will not strike down one who can barely keep themselves up. So please, give in."

Rathe shouted something, I couldn't make any sense of it, but as the Lucario sidestepped once more, her eyes glowed a deep purple, lifting Rathe into the air along with her discarded club, and simply floated her to the seat beside me.

"Marowak is out of bounds, Lucario wins round four!"

As I looked over Rathe, it was amazing she was still able to stand. Thin cracks ran through her helmet, one of her ears completely exposed, and small cuts all across her form left dark crimson lines of blood held together by the left over dust and stone from the Conkeldurr's columns. "I- wasn't strong." Rathe panted out, lightly tapping me on the shoulder as her head fell back against the wall. "Bu- but you are." I saw Rathe's eyes close as she was gathered up in the red energy of her pokéball.

"Alright Luyo, this is it. You're up."

I sighed and forced myself upright, climbing up behind Mark and moving into the battle-scarred arena. Remnants of both Blossom and Rathe lay strewn around me, as the only thing standing between me and victory is a Lucario.

"An Absol? Oh, this must be a joke." Lucario spoke, dropping her fighting stance immediately. "Surely your trainer is kidding."

"Just shut up and fight. What? Don't you think I'm worth the effort?" I responded, lowering my stance as I started to strafe back and forth across the arena.

"If that Marowak was fresh, then I'd probably have a challenge. But you? What could you possibly do to me?"

"The challenger's last pokémon is Absol! Is Lucario able to continue?" I watched her eyes glow once more with a swift nod, before turning her attention back to me. "The fifth and final round is between gym leader Maylene's Lucario and the challenger's Absol! Ready? Begin!"

"Alright Luyo, let's start out with a Shadow Ball."

Easy enough, I thought to myself. Focusing the energy to appear before me, feeding in just enough to make it the size of my head, before flinging it towards the Lucario.

"Aura Sphere." Maylene simply said, as Lucario channeled her own power, seemingly catching my Shadow Ball and adding it to her own attack. Wait, she can't just-

Pain ripped through me as I felt the Aura Sphere smash into my right shoulder, hurling me across the battlefield and sliding to a stop just as one of my hind legs felt the edge of the arena.

"See? I told you there's no chance."

"I said shut up!" I channeled power into my blade, I knew Night Slash wasn't the greatest of ideas, but I _hated_ being mocked in a fight. Throwing myself towards the aura pokémon, I bounded off my uninjured left side, feinting to attack right, before flinging my attack back in the direction I came from as it looped towards Lucario's right leg.

I heard a grunt of pain as I flipped back to my side of the arena, I'd drawn blood, the dusty air filling with more of the metallic odour. "Maybe I underestimated you." Lucario said, testing her new injury by hopping back and forth slowly. I could see a slight wince in her movements, I now had a target for the rest of my attacks. "This might be interesting after all."

I simply nodded. "Good, I'd hate to teach you another lesson."

"Luyo! You have to listen to me, I have a pl- Look out!." Mark called from behind me. I glanced back towards him only to find Lucario's knee buried into my ribs. I tried to bite back at her before she bounded away, the Extremespeed attack causing my breath to become laboured as I felt something crack from the impact.

 _Just take it slow._ I heard Syne in my head, now was not the time!

Facing back at the Lucario, I limped towards my right side, opting to half feint on my uninjured left side every other step. Alright, new plan. I can't react fast enough to her moves, so let's just strike her down before anything else happens.

"Shadow Ball!" Mark shouted from behind me.

Good enough. I thought, focusing the power back into the black-purple mass before me. Pushing twice as much power in as the last one, maybe Lucario could catch that last one because it was only a weaker attack.

"And again Lucario, Aura Sphere."

I watched as the dark orb was consumed by the Lucario once more, her control over the energy I threw at her was inspir- Oh no!

Bracing for the impact, I managed to lessen the damage her Aura Sphere caused. Still focusing on my right side I rolled as much as I could to lessen the damage the ground caused, thankful for my earlier preparations. I'd barely laid a scratch on this Lucario while she'd landed two solid Aura Sphere's and an Extreme- _Wait._

I used Detect as I felt the dust start to settle around me. And sure enough, I felt the Lucario flying towards me to deliver another powerful strike. Her movements laid out before me as I felt the Detect start to wear off. I backpedaled a few paces, feeling the rush of air as Lucario flew through where I was standing not moments earlier.

Alright, so, she can absorb the Shadow Balls I throw at her, but to convert the extra energy took more time. So if I tried to-

"Nicely done Luyo! But I think it's time we turn this up a notch." Having learnt from my first mistake, I didn't take my eyes off the Lucario, watching her every step as she circled around the arena with me, her tail flicking back and forth with each opposite step. "Let's see if this stone works!"

As I circled around to Maylene's side of the arena, I watched Mark fish out a small greenish stone. The moment my eyes locked onto the stone, the gem around my neck began to glow.

"What are you doing?" I heard Maylene shout from behind me as strange winds began to whip around me, throwing my fur in every direction. "Lucario! Stop that move, whatever it is!"

In a flash Lucario launched herself at me, but I simply jumped over her, landing on Mark's side of the arena, before I was completely engulfed by the glowing light. I felt my form shifting, my mane growing upwards and outwards, as my scythe felt heavier for a moment, but then lighter the next. My claws dug into the ground further and the fur covering my left eye shifted in the light as everything about me just felt _better_.

I couldn't help but to shout my name into the air, feeling an overwhelming power within me come _alive._ As the dust settled and felt entirely reinvigorated I simply stared at the Lucario who looked as though she'd seen Darkrai himself.

I heard Mark laugh behind me. "It works! It actually works! Haha! Luyo, we'll su-" I glared back at Mark, silencing him immediately. In the moment I'd turned my back, I felt Lucario move, her earlier cheap shot of using Extremespeed would've been successful again in my distraction had I not simply leapt into the air this time, the blue menace passing underneath me without harm.

My gaze snapped back to the Lucario. "I'll deal with _you_ in a moment. Wait your turn!" I watched the Lucario nod slowly as I turned back towards Mark. Although I didn't feel any larger, I knew _everything_ had changed. Standing at the edge of the square, I stared up at Mark, uncaring if he could understand me or not. "I will _not_ listen to you anymore. This is my fight." I turned around slowly glaring at the cause of my previous pain. "And I'm going to enjoy this."


End file.
